A Loner's Idol Family
by Kaiyo No Umi
Summary: I've lived alone for most of my life. My baby sister is an idol and my parents are her managers. It's basically just me at home. Now all of a sudden, my sister's back home... and there are ton of people in my house. Not that I'm complaining, it's amazing. Makes my old life style seem bland in comparison to now. But... can it last? *1st Part of the Family Series*
1. The Lone Planeptune

***Nep* *Nep* *Nep***

A yawn escapes my mouth as the alarm clock sounds next to my ear. Attempting to return to my dream world, I throw my covers over my head and crawl up into a ball. However, the alarm keeps going, stopping me from enjoying sleep anymore.

 ***Nep* *Nep* *Nep***

Groaning, I sit up and scratch the top of my head. Before I throw my blanket off, I stretch my arms and legs, letting the drowsy feeling slowly flow out of my limbs. I yawn once more before beginning my morning routine.

 ***Nep* *Nep* *Nep***

First, I do what most people normally do. Turn off the alarm clock. After that, I grab my school bag from under my messy desk… I need to clean this thing later when I get home. I really hope I don't forget, again. Mom would scold me so bad if she was here. Fixing my bed, I take my school uniform and drop it on the mattress. I also grab some boxer shorts and a wife beater- why they're called this, I have no idea- and set an alarm on my phone. Taking my phone into the bathroom, I set on a paper towel on the counter and wrap it up, so that the moisture from my shower doesn't get on my phone, Iffy would get annoyed.

I turned on the shower head and- SUDDENLY COLD WATER! Gah! I turned the cold water tab. Off. Off. OFF! Phew, that was stupid of me. Turning on the warm water tab, I heard the water running and felt the warm liquid run down my semi-toned and semi-flabby body. I didn't go to any clubs because I had to take care of the house, but the chores give me some form of exercise. So that's nice.

Hearing the alarm, I finished showering and dried myself up. I unwrapped the phone and went back into my bedroom, getting dressed without rush nor slack. After that, I walked into my mothers' room… And to no surprise they weren't here. Although I already know she's not here either, but might as well check, right? I left my mothers' room that was at the end of the hallway and passed by my room that was across the bathroom into my little sister's room… Yeah, not there. Both my mom's and sister's beds were a neat and clean as I had left them last night, just like every night actually. Walking into my room, I looked at the mirror, just to make sure that my uniform was alright.

I wore a white collared shirt, buttoned all the way up and around the collar was a purple tie with white diagonal stripes. Underneath this shirt was my white wifebeater- I hate calling it that, but I don't wanna say no-sleeved undershirt every time I have to talk about it. I wore navy blue slacks, as per the school's uniform. My lavender hair was sort of ruffled after I dried my hair with a towel, so I used my hands to pat it down a bit. What? Reaching for a comb would take too much time.

* * *

Alright, I'm think I'm set. Grabbing my bag, I walked downstairs to get breakfast. Well, not get breakfast, more like make.

I let out a sigh. Once I entered the ground floor of my house, the only thing I could hear was my own footsteps. Of course, Mom, Mother and little sis aren't here. They haven't been home in months. But hey, it's not bad to hope, right?

I entered the kitchen. Then I left my bag on the counter and grabbed some bread out of the bread box and popped them into the toaster. Grabbing jelly out of the cabinet above the bread box, I placed on the counter next to a plate where I'd put the bread later. As I waited for the bread to finish toasting, I walked over to the T.V. and turned it on. Might as well let something make this house feel alive, right? I didn't really watch T.V. down here, since I have one in my own room, so I left it on the channel it was last left on.

The channel happened to be left on a talk show and the host happened to be starting an interview.

" _Hello, and welcome to Basiliview. I am your host, I don't like talking about my name so I'm titled the Announcer."_

Letting the sounds of the broadcast-guy-whatever-he's called fill the house, I walked over to the fridge. Searching through the fridge, I took out my already set up bento box and placed it on the table. Closing the giant food storage, I crouched to open one of cabinets to grab the cover of my bento box.

" _Alright it's time to start our next segment,_ _The Aspiring Idol Interview!"_

Ah. There it is. I closed my eyes and clicked my tongue, pausing in grabbing the box cover. If there's one thing that was different in my world, it was who the people worshipped. It wasn't a goddess or some sort of divine deity. Well, some people believe in religion. But that's beside the point. What the people love, what everyone admires, what everyone looks up to are **idols**.

The toaster dinged, signalling that the toast was ready. Grabbing the bento box cover, I stood up and closed the cabinet with my foot. Covering my lunch and wrapping it in a handkerchief, I left my bento box on the counter and picked up my toast, quickly dropping the slices onto the plate. Picking up the plate and the jelly, I took them to the dining room table.

As soon as I had placed the objects in my hand onto the table, the doorbell rung. Huh, it is that time alread- Ah. I forgot to put on my watch. Meh. I walked over to the front door and looked outside.

" _Alright, let's begin with the-"_

"Ah! It's Nep-Nep!" My peach haired friend waved at me from the front gate and next to her was my long brown haired friend next to her, one of her many phones in her hand.

"Mornin' Nep. If you had taken a second longer, I would have sent you a text." I rolled my eyes and walked over to the gate, opening it.

"Hey Iffy, Compa. I was making some toast, want some?" IF looked at her phone and shrugged.

"We do have at least an hour until school starts." I raised my eyebrow.

"What? You girls coming over to a guys house so early in the morning, people are gonna start rumors~." IF stared at me with blank eyes and Compa tilted her head.

"But Nep-Nep, we've been doing this since we found out you walked alone." I sighed and stood aside.

"Compa, it was joke." As I let them in, I noticed that they were one person short. "Where's Blanc?" Blanc's been my friend ever since I was in diapers, we're best friends that know everything about each other.

"Blanc's got morning duties." Oh yeah, I forgot. Welp, so much for knowing everything about Blanc.

"Well, come on in." The two walked inside and I closed the gate. When I entered the house, Compa was in the kitchen, making tea and popping bread into the toaster like this her own home. IF sat at the table, slathering jelly onto the toast that I had made so far.

"Nep, why'd you only make two slices? Being stingy all of a sudden?" I rolled my eyes once again.

"Iffy, I had just made those slices when you two showed up." Compa walked over to IF, humming a little tune while carrying cups of tea and placing one in front of IF.

"Don't worry, Nep-Nep. I'll take over breky-time~." I nodded to the girl and pointed to my stairs.

"Thanks, Compa. Anyways, I forgot my watch so gimme a sec to get it real quick." The two made an synchronized "Kay~" and I went back into my room.

My watch was on my desk, it was a regular black digital watch I received from my… other mother. Yeah, I have two moms. Deal with it. I put on the watch, happy now that I could feel the familiar leather on my wrist.

"Nep, hurry up! We're gonna eat all of your food." I called out to the girl, saying that I was on my way down and promptly walked downstairs.

" _Okay, that's enough for the CPUs!"_

I sat down on the table, grabbing a slice of toast and used the knife that Compa brought to the table and covered the slice in jelly.

" _Now it's time for the new aspiring idol group, the Candidates!"_

When the announcer named the next group of idols for the interview, I stopped in my tracks. That's the group that…

"That's Ge-Ge's group right?" I slowly nodded.

" _Thank you Mr. Announcer. It's an honor to be here this morning."_

That's her voice, my little sister's voice. IF leaned over her chair and craned her neck to look at the television.

"Wow, the first time Gear had an interview. She couldn't get through a single word without stuttering."

"Yeah…" Compa and IF turned to look me, worried. I had stopped eating and was staring at my slice of toast. Biting my toast absentmindedly, I stood up and walked over to the flat screen T.V.

Nepgear was sitting aside the rest of her group: Uni, Rom and Ram. I kinda know Rom and Ram since they're Blanc's sisters, but I only met Uni once. Nepgear was answering questions for the interview, allowing the other three to answer when it was their turn or when she couldn't answer a question.

" _So, what is your biggest inspiration for becoming an idol? Your mother?"_

I can't deny that. My mother, Histoire, worked as an idol manager. My other mom, Arfoire, was also an idol manager and had wanted me to be born a girl so that she could have me be an idol. That didn't work, since I was obviously a guy. However, her wish was fulfilled when Nep. Jr was born. So they would leave for months at a time, looking over her idol career together… leaving me behind at home.

" _No."_

 **What?**

Then, then **why** does she work so hard as an idol?

 **Why** does she put her everything in her job?

 **Why** did she not say no to mom when she asked?

 **Why** did-

" _Actually, I wanted to be an idol because of my brother."_

My eyes widened and my breakfast nearly falling out of my mouth.

" _Whoa, what is this?"_

I stopped my slice of toast from falling onto the ground.

" _Yes, my brother is the kind of person, who no matter the consequence, helped every person he met. He's my inspiration. Although I may not be taking the risks he is, I want to help people by becoming an inspiration to as many people as possible."_

The announcer made a laugh filled with admiration.

" _Isn't that a heart-warming reason! Here, live on Basiliview, Candidate Nepgear speaks of her origins!"_

I grab the remote and turn off the T.V., returning to my friends. IF and Compa look at each other and then at me.

"Nep-Nep, are you alright?" I grin at the girl.

"Better than normal." After that, we finished our breakfast and got ready to leave for school. I grabbed my phone, which I had left on the counter next to my bag and opened the music app on my phone. Opening my bag, I took out my custom d-pad headphones and put them on, my bento box taking it's place. I closed my bag and slung it over my shoulder.

As I walked to the front door, I took one last look at the T.V.

"Thanks, Nep. Jr."

I closed and locked the door, turning around to see my friends already waiting outside the gate. After closing the gate, we began walking down the path that would lead to our school.

"Iffy, how much time do we have left?" IF flipped open her phone and checked the time.

"We have about ten minutes left." That's fine. School is five minutes away from my place anyways. Compa and IF began to have conversation that was too girly for me to follow, so I hit the 'play' button on my phone's music app, letting the music surround my world.

A couple seconds later, I felt someone pull my right headphone out of my ear. I looked to see IF placing my headphone into her ear.

"What is it Iffy?"

"I just wanted to know if you were listening the new album that Gear's group had put out recently." Oh, she was talking about _Leave Peace &Love!_. Unfortunately, Mom had left me copy as soon as they finished the album. Unlike everyone else, I shoved it and every other album that they made in a drawer that was hidden by a backlog of unplayed videogames.

"Obviously not. Now can you give me my headphone please?" IF raised one of her eyebrows and put the missing headphone into my open hand, which I promptly shoved back into my ear.

* * *

When we entered school, some people were already here. Compa and IF are in Class 3-B while Blanc and I are in 3-A. So the three of us split up at my class and I went inside my classroom, some of my classmates were inside, specifically one short… I mean, she hasn't had a growth spurt yet. **Yeah.** No spurt, not yet. I sat in my chair, which happened to be in front of hers. Luckily we didn't have to move that far

"Ey." I turned to see my childhood friend, Blanc, reading a thick novel. "Hey, Earth to Blanc~." Blanc turned a page, still not hearing me. I poked her in the head and she still hadn't noticed me. Eventually, I put my hand on the book, covering the words and tilting the book downwards. I could practically see a vein bulge as she looked up to me.

" **What, in the hell, do you freakin' want, Neptune?"** I grinned at my friend. Raising my hands in order to show my innocence and in defence as well.

"What? I can't say hi to my bestest friend in the world?" Blanc's eye twitched and looked back at her book, closing it roughly so that I would retract my hand. "Ow!" Blanc smirked at my discomfort but then dropped back into her blank facade.

"So. What's with you?" I stared at her, not sure what she meant. "You're upset." I sighed. She saw through so easily. I chuckled and looked out the window, despite it being on the other side of the classroom.

"I saw our sisters in an interview this morning." Blanc huffed. She understood what I was going through, since her twin baby sisters were recruited by my parents, but she at least had her mom to look after her.

"I see." I leaned onto my chair.

"Nep Jr. said I was her inspiration." Blanc blinked.

"Why wouldn't you be?" Now, I was confused. She realized that I didn't get her so she continued talking. "Neptune, remember when we were kids?" I shook my head. My memory is really bad. I mean, **really bad**. Blanc sighed and looked at her book.

"Since you don't remember…" Blanc looked at me straight in the eyes. "Aunty Arfoire wanted you to be an idol remember?" Of course, she spoke of it whenever she saw me.

"What's your point?" Blanc scratched her head, trying to find the words she needed to make her point.

"Well after you realized that you couldn't be an idol, you decided to be a hero." I stared at the girl, confused.

"I said that? What kind idiot was I?" Blanc grinned at my reaction.

"A big one. Whenever someone was in trouble, you'd leap at the opportunity to help them, no matter how small nor how big the challenge was. Eventually you gave up in helping people because you had decided to grow up. However, you efforts weren't lost on Nepgear."

"Which means?"

"What do kids do when they look up to heroes?" That's an easy one.

"They copy them!" Blanc stared at me and sighed.

"No th-" Our homeroom teacher, Mrs. Jinguji, walked up to us.

"I'm sorry to interrupt your conversation, but Nishizawa." Blanc turned to Mrs. Jinguji. "Can you bring these documents to Ms. Magic in the library?" Since she had duty today, Blanc couldn't say no. She took the documents from Ms. Jinguji and left the room. After that, my teacher turned to look at me.

"Yes, Ms. Jinguji?" Surprisingly, my teacher smiled at me and placed her hand on my shoulder.

"It's okay, Planeptune. If it's any consolation, I was watching my daughters in the interview this morning as well and that I share your sentiment of loneliness." Oh, that's right. Uni has the same last name as Mrs. Jinguj- Wait, daughters?

"Daughters? What are you tal-" Mrs. Jinguji shook her head.

"There is no need to speak of our personal lives, Planeptune." As she stopped talking, the bell that signified the beginning class rang. Mrs. Jinguji bade me a farewell and I sat in seat, taking out notebook and penci- Crap, it's not sharpened. Good thing I hav- my sharpener's not in my pencil case...nor is it in my desk. Damn it!

Luckily, Blanc had a sharpener so class proceeded smoothly. School's boring so there's no need to talk about it. Lunch didn't have anything special either. Well, I didn't care about what people were talking about. Meh. Blanc's rubbing off on me.

* * *

When school ended, I had to walk home alone since Blanc had duty and Compa and IF and IF had their clubs. Walking down street that led to my house, I failed to notice that there was a car in the front the building. Instead, I unlocked the gate and walked inside the house.

I didn't even notice the chatter and walked upstairs. Going inside my room, I dropped my stuff onto my desk and opened my bag, starting my homework.

"Neptune!" I looked up from my textbook, turning left and right. Dismissing the sound, I diverted my attention to my homework. My name was called again, but this time it was more timid and...closer. I turned to my door to see.

"Hey…" She looked exactly like she did in the interview. Her long light purple hair and her purple eyes shining upon making eye contact with me.

"Hi, Neptune." Nepgear smiled at me, as if she had always been home, as if she wasn't an idol, as if- "Dinner's ready." Snapping out of my stupor, I nodded and stood up.

"Y-Yeah, I'm coming down." I followed Nepgear to the dining table. Well, I'm an idiot. Sitting at the table were my parents. Mom, with her long silver hair and her black not-suit-thing and Mother, with her purple dress, white hat-thing and her thick book of something.

"Neptune." Mother stood looking at me straight in the eye. Although her anger was erased by her surprise. "Oh my, look at you!" The last time I saw Mother, I was at her shoulders, but now I at least three heads taller than her. "You've grown so much!" Her eyes shined as she looked at me. Mom sighed.

"Histy. Neptune's a growing boy." Mom grinned at me. "Hey, kid. How ya doing?"

"I'm...doing fine." This wasn't real right? I mean, they're not home. I'm asleep on my desk. Yeah, asleep. I should just pinch myself an-

OW! Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope. **Nope.** Not asleep. Then…

"Mom… Mother… You're home?" Mother crossed her arms.

"What do you think kid? Use your brain." I rubbed my eyes, blinking at least three times.

"You're home. You're home. You're home!" I could help myself. I can't stop myself from smiling. My parents were home. They're home! Wait, then that means… "Nepgear!"

"Y-Yes!" I turned to look at my sister and promptly hugged. "Goodness!"

"You're home!" I hugged Nepgear tightly and she slowly, happily hugged me back.

"Yes, I'm home Neptune." As I hugged my baby sister, I heard a cough. The two of us turned to see three guests that have been sitting and watching the whole thing. Sitting across from Mother was Uni, who I waved to and next to her was…  
"Mrs. Jinguji! When did you get here!?" My homeroom teacher blinked.

"We've been here since you arrived." Oh. Well. Okay then. I turned my head to see… to see…

"Who the heck are you?" The girl who looked like an older Uni with twintails looked at me, aghast.

"You don't know _me!_ Noire! Of the CPUs!" I blinked as the girl stood and crossed her arms. I held Nepgear protectively.

"Never heard of you." The girl's eye twitched.

"Wha-Wha-" Mom cleared her throat stopping this chick from yelling at me.

"Neptune. Your mother and I aren't staying, but Nepgear is." Aww. Mom chuckled as my reaction showed through my face. "Don't be like that, you should be used to this by now. However, Mrs. Jinguji has asked us a favor." My teacher stood up and looked at me.

"Neptune Planeptune, the Jinguji residence is being renovated at this moment, so I'd ask that you'd let my daughters," She motioned to Uni and Noire. "live here for at least three months."

I blinked.

And again.

Once more for good measure.

" _ **WHAT!?**_ " Mother sighed, apparently expecting with my reaction.

"Neptune, I know this will be tough for you, but you're a man now. So I expect you to get through this." I let go of Nepgear and turned to look at my new housemates. Uni bashfully smiled at me and Noire looked away with a scoff. I put my hand on my forehead.

"Oh...Goddesses, help me…"

This was my first night, living with some form of family. Me, my little sister, her friend Uni, and a chick didn't like me. _This is gonna take some time to get used to._ _ **Trust me.**_


	2. Awkward Mornings

***Nep* *Nep* *Nep***

A yawn escapes my mouth as the alarm clock sounds next to my ear. Attempting to return to my dream world, I throw my covers over my head and crawl up into a ball. However, the alarm keeps going, stopping me from enjoying sleep anymore.

 ***Nep* *Nep* *Nep***

Groaning, I sit up and scratch the top of my head. Before I throw my blanket off, I stretch my arms and legs, letting the drowsy feeling slowly flow out of my limbs. I yawn once more before beginning my morning routine.

 ***Nep* *Nep* *Nep***

Grabbing my clothes, I walk into the bathroom, ready to take a shower. When I entered, I noticed that the bathroom was humid, as if someone else was inside. That's not right, I'm the only one home. Ignoring this fact because I was half asleep and I didn't care, I took off my shirt and pants when the door that led to the shower opened.

"W-What are you doing!?" A girl's voice blasted into my ear, somewhat waking me out of my sleep. Wait, that isn't Mom's voice… and Mother and Nepgear wouldn't yell at me like that. What…

Against my better judgement, I turned to look at who made the sound. It was a raven haired girl who had just finished taking a shower. Her hair was wet from the shampoo and water and…

Now I remember… she's… what's her name again. Noire. Yeah, Noire.

Noire stared at me, her face a deep red, as red as her eyes actually. But why would she…

Oh.

Oh.

 _ **Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope.**_ I'm not going to deal with this in the morning. I grabbed my discarded clothing and left the bathroom without hesitation.

Sigh… This is just great. Wait, if that chick's here then that means…

"Goodness!" Crap...

Nepgear stared at me, not wearing a shirt and in my boxers.

"N-Neptune, u-uh…" Nepgear looked around, unsure of what to say. I can't blame her, she just saw her brother almost naked.

"Hey, Nepgear! What's going on?" Another voice came from downstairs and footsteps started up the stairwell. If, I remember correctly, that's Nepgear's friend and fellow idol member, Uni. Oh, hell no. I barely saw her sister naked and Nepgear saw me in my underwear. _I am not making a chain reaction of embarrassment happen!_

I immediately excused myself and slipped into my room, locking the door. When Uni got nearby, I could hear her and Nepgear talking, the former confused and the latter… surprised to say the least. Soon I heard the door to the bathroom opening and Nepgear asking Noire something.

" _What do think? He walked in on me when I was showering!_ " Ah. She's talking about that. A knock on my door came almost after that. I have feeling that it's that chick, since the knock was loud, rough and quick. " **HEY! What are you going to say for peeping on me huh!?** " Ugh. I have to defend myself. Well, I better if I want to get out of this peacefully.

"How was I supposed to know? I've taking a shower in the morning everyday of my life!" Smooth, me. Real smooth. "It was by habit!"

"Oh really?" Yes really. "So how come you didn't notice that the room was damp from my shower huh?"

"Woman, I just woke up! Of course I wouldn't expect anything!" Come to think of it… "Actually, why didn't you lock the door?" I heard Noire grunt in surprise. Heh. Got her.

"I-I-I've never lived with a man, so by habit I kept the door open in case of another girl needed to use the bathroom. By habit! Not because I wanted to talk to someone when I'm showering, not at all!" O~kay, that came out of nowhere. "But that doesn't change that fact that you peeped on me!"

"I did not!"

"Did too!"

"All I saw was your face and hair, that's it! I swear!" If this doesn't work, I might as well call the school and tell them I'm sick. I mean, saying 'I'm stuck in my room because some chick that moved into my house yesterday thinks that I purposefully walked in on her while she's showering' isn't a valid excuse.

"Now, now. This was an accident that happened from habits." Oh thank whatever religion I believe in, Nepgear's gonna diffuse the situation.

"Hmph. I bet he just wanted an event flag or something."

" **WOMAN, THIS AIN'T A DATING SIM. IT'S REAL LIFE!** " I think I spent too much time with Blanc. Her anger must've rubbed off on me. Well, if you had some common sense and hearing someone say 'event flag' would elicit a similar response, maybe less angry.

I heard Noire growl at my door, huff and walk away. As soon as the footsteps faded, I pulled on my pants and peeked out of my door. Nepgear was looking worried and Uni stood to the side, wide-eyed.

"Is she gone?" The two looked at me.

"Yes, she's gone." I sighed in relief and opened my door completely. Uni looked down the hallway where Noire left and back to me.

"Wow. I've never seen Noire get so angry before." I rolled my eyes.

"You've seen it now." I told Uni and Nepgear to go downstairs and walked into the bathroom to take one of the fastest showers in my entire life. I'm not exaggerating here. But I'm not really caring at this point.

After my shower, I dressed up in my school uniform followed after the girls to eat some breakfast.

* * *

Upon going downstairs, I didn't smell anything being made and arrived at the dining table to see the three waiting there patiently

"Why haven't you girls made breakfast yet?" Noire huffed and glared at me.

"What, do you expect your guests to make _you_ food?" This girl…

"Woman, you're going to be living here for now. So, you better get used to making breakfast for other people." Noire gritted her teeth and continued glaring at me. I held myself back from glaring at the chick and instead I gave her my most serious stare.

"U-Um…" The two of us turn to see Uni, her hands a little bit above the table, as if she was attempting to defuse the situation. "Nepgear and I wanted to make some eggs and toast, but I we didn't know where the pans and plates were/" I turned to Nepgear.

"You live here. How do you not know where things are?" Nepgear scratched her cheek bashfully.

"Whenever we came home, Mother would cook for us and she wouldn't let me help her." I sighed, hearing the sound of a stomach growling. Everyone's attention turned to Noire, who covered her stomach with her hands and blushing an embarrassed red.

I looked at my watch. IF and Compa will be here in at least forty minutes. Blanc shouldn't have morning duty today so she might be coming over too. Ugh. I'm gonna need to try hard today.

"Alright," All heads turned to me. "I'll make breakfast." I walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge. "Uni, the pans are in the lower cabinet next to the stove. Nepgear, get the bread from the bread box and make some toast. The plates are in the cabinet above the toaster. And…" I took out the box of eggs from the fridge and pointed my free hand at Noire.

"M-Me?"

"You sit there."

"O-Oh. Right then." Uni took out a pan and placed it onto the stove. I handed her the eggs.

"Take out as many eggs as you girls want to eat." I looked over to Nepgear. "Jr. make fourteen pieces of toast, two for each of us." Nepgear looked at me confused.

"I have at least two to three guests coming over each morning." Nepgear made a surprised sound and followed my instructions. I saw Uni taking out at least seven eggs. "Uni." The girl with the black hair drill twintails looked at me. "What kind of eggs do you want?" She seemed uncomfortable with my simple question.

"O-Oh. U-Uh, Sunny side, please." I nodded and reached out for an egg, which she promptly handed to me. As I had finished cooking the third egg, the doorbell rang.

"They're early." I turn over to Nepgear and Uni. "Could you two set up the rest of the table and food while I see who's at the door?" The two girls nodded and I left my cooking post to Uni while Nepgear sets the plates with eggs and toast.

* * *

I open the door to see IF, Compa, and this time Blanc at the door.

"Morning, Nep."

"Good morning, Nep-Nep!"

"Morning." I greeted the three and opened the door. Apparently they could smell the food from the door and IF looked concerned.

"Nep, I don't think it's a good idea to leave the stove unattended." I shrugged my shoulders.

"I think they're good enough to handle that." Compa tilted her head.

"They're?" I stood aside to let the three in.

"I think it'd be better to show you than explain." As they go inside the house, I noticed that Blanc is beaming. "Hey." The small brown haired girl looked at me.

She wore a navy blue skirt that reached up to her knees and wore a white blouse-shirt-thing, I have no idea what it is, but she wore it over her skirt. She had a blue collar that matched the cuffs of her shirt and she wore a light blue bow around the collar. Also, she somehow got through the school dress code and was able to wear thing mocchi like hat that had the same design as her collar and cuffs around the rim of the hat.

* * *

Well, I didn't explain it earlier, but IF and Compa wear the same thing as Blanc. It's the school uniform after all, but they have some minor differences. IF wars the a belt around her waist to hold all nine of her phones and has a black tie instead of the bow. Compa has a tan sweater over her shirt-thing and has a red bow instead of a blue one. Also, they still wear their signature headgear, for IF, a leafy bow, and for Compa, a headband with the letter 'C' on it. I don't know how they were able to get those through the school's dress code since they didn't like Blanc's regular giant mocchi hat, but I don't care. They're happy at least.

* * *

"What is it Neptune?" Although her voice was cold, I could see the sparkles in her eyes.

"Something good happen?" Out of nowhere, Blanc's mouth made a huge smile and she nodded enthusiastically.

"Yeah, Rom and Ram came home." I chuckled. Figures, I acted the same way when Nepgear, Mom and Mother came home...until I met that chick.

"That's great, I mean N-" I heard a shriek come from inside. Blanc and I quickly turn our heads toward the direction of the kitchen and dining hall.

"What happened?" I shook my head.

"No idea. I just hope it's not a fire or anything." We ran into the kitchen to not see a fire. Instead, we saw IF and Compa staring at the idols that were sitting at the dinner table. IF was speechless while Compa was trembling and making sounds as if she was trying to say something.

I entered Noire's sight and she pointed at me accusingly.

"You! Why did you br-" IF and Compa zipped past her and ran towards Nepgear.

"Ge-Ge!"

"Hey Gear, long time no see." Compa glomped Nepgear, who almost dropped two plates of eggs and toast. Thankfully, IF caught the plates and placed them on the table, the proceeded to join Compa in the hugging.

As I watched the three have their joyful reunion, I felt a hand grab my shoulder and pull me aside. My eyes ended up meeting red, not angry red, the color red, irises and I pulled my head back to see Noire once again. She grabbed my head once more and pulled my ear closer to her lips.

" _Why are they here?"_ I shrugged my shoulders.

"Why not?" I felt a tug at my sleeve and turned to see Uni, very uncomfortable with IF and Compa's closeness with Nepgear.

"Um… Ms. Histoire said that we shouldn't talk to people in the public, because she said that something horrible might happen." I furrowed one of my eyebrows and looked over to Nepgear.

"Goodness! IF! Compa! You're getting too close!?" I looked back to Uni and smirked.

"I don't think they're any problem are they?" Uni shook her head, her suspicions fading upon seeing my friends' reaction to idols, ignoring them, and to my little sister, a great big hug. I shook my head and clapped loudly to get their attention. "Alright guys, breaky time. We gotta go to school."

* * *

I would say something about school. But we didn't have anything important to do, except for Mrs. Jinguji coming to me privately to ask how her girls are doing. Actually, that's pretty important. Let's go over that shall we.

* * *

"Planeptune." I turned around to see Mrs. Jinguji walk up to me from the hallway.

"Hello, Mrs. Jinguji. Is there something you need?" She shook her head.

"No, I just wanted a status report on my daughters."

"Status report? That makes it sound serious."

"This is a serious matter." Heh. Loving mother.

"Well, Uni seems awkward, but she'll be fine if Nep Jr. is there." Mrs. Jinguji nodded.

"And Noire?" I blinked.

"Don't even talk to me about her." Mrs. Jinguji looked concerned about a second, but it vanished immediately and her face returned to her infamous cold face.

"What's wrong Planeptune?" I growled, although it wasn't a good idea, since I was in front of a teacher.

"Let's see here. I wake in the morning, take a shower. Doesn't even lock the door." My teacher's eyes widened a bit.

"...Tell me more about this incident." With a sigh, I told her everything about what happened this morning. Mrs. Jinguji giggled, which caught me off guard. "Planeptune, I apologize for my daughter's behavior. She's quite the airhead in the mornings." I shook my head, glaring out the window that happened to be beside me. I heard Mrs. Jinguji sigh and place a hand on my shoulder. "Neptune," Okay, that was weird. My teacher just spoke to me in a familiar tone.

"Wha- I mean, Yes?" Mrs. Jinguji looked out the window alongside me.

"It'll take some time, but Noire will warm up to you. However, since I know how kind you _can_ be, she _will_ warm up to you." My teacher chuckled. "Maybe…" Mrs. Jinguji turned away, covering her mouth. "Maybe you'll see her in a romantic way." ...What?

"Huh?" Mrs. Jinguji calmed herself and waved it off.

"Nothing, nothing. Anyways, I hope that you'll get along with my daughters." With that, Mrs. Jinguji walked away, leaving me both confused and curious.

* * *

Now that I think about it, that was an important conversation… Nah. That was just stupid. Anyways, since Blanc doesn't have duty, she and I can walk together. Leaving one of my earphones in my, well, ear and with Blanc reading book and gripping onto my bag, I walked home with my not-sister-but-still-a-sister-to-me.

"Hey, Blanc?"

"What is it?"

"Watcha reading?"

"It's a light novel."

"What's it about?"

"It's about a girl who can transform into an older but divine version of herself, who loses her memory and goes on journey with a guild agent and nurse-in-training to look for someone who can get her memories back while trying to stop an old lady from destroying and taking over world."

"Seems nice." Right now, I was listening to boss music from a game that had a red robot that had this confusingly shaped green beam sword whose backstory is that he was sealed away to prevent a virus from spreading and was awoken a millennia later to fight his malfunctioning best friend.

"I'll lend it to you later. It's more of a comedic than it is serious."

"Sweet, you know how I love comedy!" Blanc chuckled and the two of us had arrived in front of my house. "Wanna get something to eat before you head home?"

"Neptune."

"Yeap?"

"We're next door neighbors."

"And?"

"You don't need to feed me. I can just go home."

"Doesn't mean you can't eat!" I wrapped my arm around Blanc and I could see the annoyance on her face.

"Oi!" However, I could also see the grin on her face. The same grin that I always saw when we hung out. That grin brought back some good memories too.

"I stocked up on pudding last week!" Blanc shook her head.

"Neptune, you're the only one who eats those en masse." The both of us laughed as we walked inside my house.

"Jr., I'm home!"

"Thank you for letting me in." Two tiny voices, one loud and one quiet, came from the living room. Suddenly, the sounds of footsteps became prominent and two miniature Blancs came running at us.

"Blanc! Hey, we're here!" Blanc blinked in surprise.

"Rom. Ram. What are you doing here?" As the twins hugged Blanc, a woman walked out of the living room. She had light blue hair that went up to her back and wore a red robe and a cap that seemed similar to a graduation cap. She also wore a white dress and red rimmed glasses.

"Oh, hello. Mrs. Nishizawa." Blanc's mother smiled at me and turned to her three children.

"Hello, Neptune. The kids and I wanted to come here to see Nepgear and her friend. Also so we can have dinner together." Oh, that's nice. I sneered at Blanc. Ha, you gonna eat here anyway.

"Cool." Nepgear, Uni and Noire appeared at the doorway, smiling.

* * *

We sat at the dinner table, eating pasta. Rom and Ram were playing with their food, somewhat as Mrs. Nishizawa was watching them carefully. Uni was poking at her food, occasionally taking bites. Nepgear was eating her food at an average pace. Noire ate her food, eyeing me occasionally. That was probably because Blanc and I are fast eaters, having finished minutes after we got out food. Speaking of Blanc and I, Blanc continued reading the light novel from earlier and I had pulled out my phone, asking if Mom and Mother had eaten yet. They replied yes, so that's good.

While everyone else was eating, the doorbell rang.

"That's weird, no one usually comes here around dinner time." Mrs. Nishizawa looked at me.

"Oh, that's someone for my family." Mrs. Nishizawa's children looked her.

"Mama." Rom's mother smiled at her. "What are you talking about?" Mrs. Nishizawa scratched her cheeks embarrassed.

"Well, um, kids. It's a long story." She then turned to Blanc. "Honey, what if I told you that you had a twin?" Blanc stared at her mother confused while the younger twins gasped.

"Then…"

"Blanc's like us!" Ram threw her hands into the air, excited.

"Mom, what are you talking about?" Before she could answer her daughter, the doorbell rang once more.

"Well…" Since the doorbell began to ring consistently at this point, I stood up and walked over to the door. I opened the door to see two women. One was mint green hair that was tied into a ponytail. She wore a black dress that had slits on the sides and she wore some kind of cat bell with a green 'x' around her neck. She had a black ribbon with green highlights on it, and her gloves and thigh high boots had the same design. The other girl was my height and age and had long blonde hair that went up to her back. She had deep blue eyes, similar to Blanc's eyes. She wore a long green dress, one that was like a princess's gown. She also had gloves to match...and her breasts are huge.

"Hello?" The green haired woman spoke to me.

"Yes, is this the Planeptune residence?" Despite looking like a mature woman, she sounded like a bratty teenager.

"Um, yes. Do you need anything?" She nodded and looked behind me.

"Yeah, I heard that the Nishizawa family is in here eating dinner. May I come in to see them?" Uh, I don't know who they are but I let them into the house leading them into dining room.

"Uh, Mrs. Nishizawa, someone's here to see you." Upon looking at the doorway, the blue haired woman made eye contact with the green haired one. Both of them gasped upon seeing each other.

"Chika!"

"Mina!" The two adult woman, although I think one's a woman child, ran over and hugged each other passionately, eventually kissing… Really, in the house? The twins were grossed out by the two adults, Uni and Nepgear were surprised, Noire was blushing red and the blonde haired woman smiled as she walked over to Blanc.

"Hello, Blanc Nishizawa." Blanc looked away from her mother kissing another woman and stared at the girl next to her.

"Uh, hi?" The girl smiled and hugged Blanc, surprising her.

"It's so great to meet you after all these years." Huh, I've never seen Blanc so confused and so embarrassed at the same time.

"Have we met before?" The girl moved away from the hug.

"My mother's name is Chika, her maiden name is Hakozaki. However, her married name is Nishizawa. So that would make me a Nishizawa as well. So my name is Vert Nishizawa, and I'm your twin sister." Blanc spoke the word that was on everyone's mind.

"What?" The two women had stopped kissing and looked at the blonde woman and the brunette in each other arms.

"Blanc." Mrs. Nishizawa put her head on the shoulder of the woman next to her. "This is my wife and your other mother, Chika." ...Okay. I am really unsure of what to say.

Nor do I want to say anything.


	3. What I do

"...And that's how I met Mina." Chika finished her… two hour… story and… everyone clapped… sorta. Rom and… Ram… fell asleep… a while… ago. They're on… the couch… sleeping. Trying… not… to sleep.

*YAWN* I covered my… mouth. Didn't stop… yawn.

"Neptune, are you okay?" Mina… looked at me… so tired.

"Mother, don't you remember? Neptune could never stay up late." Blanc… cut in… before I could answer. Eyes… really heavy. I used my palm, and tried… to rub the sleep… away. It didn't work.

"Still? I thought by now that he'd be able to stay up later than…" Mina looked at her poc...ketwatch. "Midnight."

"No, whenever I stay over to study. He's out like a light by eleven." Noire… seemed amused. Hey… not my fault… I can't sleep late.

"Oh really? When is the latest he can stay awake?" Blanc looked at the… wall. I don't know.

"He just beat his re-"

 _Thud._

* * *

The smell of coffee being brewed filled my nose and woke me up. Ow, my neck. I slowly moved my head upwards, trying to prevent the soreness from affecting my neck so much. Massaging my neck, I felt something fall off my shoulders. I turned to see one of the guest blankets on the floor. Looking ahead of me, I noticed that there was a pillow where my head was… with a bit drool.

I craned my head to where the smell was coming from and realized that I was still sitting in the chair that I sat in last night.

"Good morning, Neptune." I yawned and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes as a hand removed the pillow from in front of me and another hand replaced it with a plate of eggs and bacon.

"Huh?" My eyes followed the hands and they were connected to Mina, Blanc's, Rom's, Ram's and apparently Ve… Ve… Verna's? mom. "Hi, Aunty." Yeah, I don't really see Blanc's mom as a neighbor, but rather as another mom or aunt or something like that. "Wait, didn't you go home?" Mina shook her head.

"No. Since it was so late, Chika and I decided that we'd sleep here. The twins were moved to one of the guest rooms and Blanc slept and Vert slept down here with you." Oh, that's her name, not Verna. My bad.

She pointed to the couch and I craned my neck to see Blanc sleeping peacefully on the couch instead of the two little Nishizawas, but Vert was nowhere to be seen.

"Have the others woken up yet?"

"Yes, in fact they ate breakfast while you were asleep earlier."

"What? How did I not wake up from that?"

"Actually, you did wake up from them eating…" Mina looked aside, a sweat-drop rolling down her cheek. "But Noire knocked you unconscious because you were 'looking at her like a leecher'."

… I don't feel anything on my he- OW! There it is! O-okay, so the initial pain subsided but… it still hurts upon contact. I sucked in some air after flinching from the sudden pain.

"I swear I'm gonna…"

"You're going to what?" I turned around to see everyone minus Blanc and Mina behind me. They didn't wear the casual clothing that they've worn up til now. In fact, you could say that they're wearing idol clothes… probably is.

Rom and Ram wore overcoats with white puff balls and a ribbon, with a hat to match their coats. They had white tights and shoes similar to their coats. The only difference was that Rom had a blue version with a pink ribbon and hand bag while Ram's was the polar opposite.

Uni wore her hair in two pigtails, instead of keeping her hair down, and they were held by two ribbons with stripes on them with a circle-clip-thing in the center. Actually, her entire clothing seemed to have the same design as her ribbons as she wore a black one-piece dress. She also had… arm warmers and shoes with knee high socks that looked like the rest of her clothes.

Vert wore a green sleeveless dress that was dark green at the top and got lighter once looking down...and showed off her breasts, although it was mostly covered by a white fabric… thing. Anyways, around her neck was a red ribbon and on her upper arms were the sleeves to her dress and really long and frilly gloves.

Noire kept her hair like Uni's, except with different ribbons. The ribbons were blue and black at the ends. Her outfit… what the hell is that? It sorta looks like a maid top but the upper portion, at the middle of chest, was cut off, showing off her shoulders and some… other things. There was a whole ton of gold...what did Mother call it? Tri- Tre- Turtles? No. Trims? Sounds like it. Meh. I'll ask her later. She also had a lot of frills around her sleeves, detached no less, and around her collar… Is that detached too? Hell. that must take forever to put on. Her sleeves merged with her gloves and had these giant gems on the back of her hands, if I didn't know she was an idol, I swear that those would hurt in a fight. Back to the sleeves, the glove part looked like some old style of gloves, as they connected to her middle finger with some form of ring and only revealed her fingers instead of covering her hands. Finally she had these super long boots that just stopped above her thighs. Come to think of it, her skirt just looks like two giant frills… Meh.

Sadly, Noire noticed me staring at her for some time and got really defensive.

"H-Hey! What wrong with you!? Feeling me up with your eyes!" Annoyed, I am.

"Pfft. Girl, the day I see you as attractive will be the day I become an idol and that ain't happenin." Everyone, besides Mina and Nepgear, was taken aback by the sassy comeback I had delivered. Noire, couldn't find the words to retort with because of my strange answer. Now that the deed is done. I chuckled and turned to my little sister.

Nepgear kept her hair the same, down and wore this d-pad hair clip that our parents got her for Christmas. I had have two of the same thing, I'm not saying any more than that. She wore this female one-piece version of a schoolgirl uniform- what do people call it? A sailor uniform? I think so. And she had purple with white stripes on her collar, sleeve cuffs and the ends of her dress thing. Around her collar was a yellow ribbon held together by this emblem with a 'N' on it and a white plastic looking collar on around her neck. Finally, she wore thigh-high socks with a striped pink and white design and a strap on her thigh to hold what looks like a phone or a small tablet. Compared to Noire and Vert, her clothes were modest in- Wait.

"Nepgear." My little sister looked at me.

"Yes?"

"Why is your skirt so small?" Nepgear flinched and looked down.

"Goodness, is it really?" She seemed conscious of it now that I pointed out. Noire stepped between me and Nepgear and crossed her arms.

"What's your problem?" I narrowed my eyes.

"Her skirt is non-existent." Noire huffed.

"No it's not." She stood aside, and gestured to Nepgear.

"It is."

"And why are you so offended by it?" Noire took a step closer.

"I'm not." I stood up from my chair, staring at her straight in the eyes.

"They why are you so against it?" Everyone felt the tension rise as my stare turned into a glare.

"I already dislike the fact that people are thinking about my sister sexually." Yeah, I hear the people around my desk and during breaks. I don't like what I hear but I ignore it to keep trouble from happening. "And I don't want them getting any more ideas about Nep Jr. with skirt _that small!_ " I was now in Noire's face, my forehead basically pressing against hers.

"Now, now." Vert pushed us away from each other. "Mr. Neptune-"

"Just. Neptune."

"Oh, then may I call you Nep-Nep, it sounds cuter and more comfortable."

"Whatever, what do you want?" Compa calls me that anyways. Although it sounds odd in contrast to Vert's mature aura.

"Luckily, Noire had thought of a countermeasure for that." What? This chick did? Vert gripped the end of Nep Jr.'s skirt and pulled them up. Before I could cover my eyes, I saw that my little sister was wearing shorts.

"Shorts…" Noire huffed again.

"See? There was nothing wrong with it. I made them after all." My eye twitched. If she had said that in the first place, maybe I'd be a little more convinced, or less skeptical. Come to think of it…

"What about her?" I pointed to Uni. The girl made a small smile.

"I'm wearing spats." What are- nevermind. I sighed and turned away.

"At least they're all decent. So, what are you going to do?" I then noticed that Chika was not around the idol group at all. "Where did-" I heard the sounds of… purring? I turned around to see Chika nuzzling Mina from behind, the latter looking very embarrassed.

"Chika, not in front of everyone…" Chika tightened her grip around her wife and pressed her cheek against Mina's.

"Nuh-uh. I'm not gonna go until I fill my Minaium tanks~." Wow, that's… I'm just gonna eat.

"We're going to record some dance moves so that we can practice them after our break." I see. Then that means… Hold on, doesn't that make having a vacation useless then. Ugh, nevermind. These eggs and bacon stips never felt so appealing in my life.

"Alright then, you girls have fun doing idol and what not." With that, Vert had to pry her mother away from her other mother and the group left, with Chika acting all dramatic and annoying.

"No~ Mina! Wait for me!" Mina just waved at her, smiling.

"Dinner will be ready when you get back." As the door shut, I heard a shout of enthusiasm and almost immediately the sounds of tires screeching and the a car moving fast down the road.

"She's…" Mina sighed in exasperation.

"My wife." As she said this, Blanc sat up from the couch and looked around.

"What happened?" Mina and I stared at the girl.

"Did you just wake up?" Blanc shook her head.

"I woke up sometime after you did."

"So, why are you asking what happened?"

"I was reading so I wasn't paying much attention." I blinked a few times before making a loud smacking sound as my face made contact with my palm. "What? It was a good part."

"Oh no." I turned to Mina.

"What's wrong, Aunty?" Mina looked worried, as she turned left and right, almost pacing.

"It's just…" She stepped out the way, so that I could see the counter. There were bento boxes wrapped in cloths. "They forgot their lunches." I froze, my egg falling off my fork.

" _What?"_ I looked up. Oh no. I know how hard those girls work. And they are _not_ going to eat junk food or whatever they eat there for lunch.

"Blanc." My best friend startled me by appearing next to me. "First of all, don't do that. Second of all, spot me." She tilted her head. "Lunch. Forgot. Map. Address. Now." Blanc nodded and she stood up, going to her bag which she had left by the couch. She took out a laptop and began to boot it up. I turned to Mina.

"Aunty. Please wrap those lunches up so that I can carry all of them at once." Mina hesitated, suggesting that we should call Chika first. "No time. She's driving, it'll ruin their schedule." She agreed and began to wrap all seven lunches together.

As they did what they did, I ran upstairs to get prepared. I threw on white pants and opened my closet and took out a black hodded overcoat. Shoving my arms through the sleeves and zipping it up the overcoat basically covered my entire body, the zipper stopping at my waist so that I could move my legs. I opened my other secret compartment, which was a box under the floorboards that were under my desk and took out a headset.

The headset was basically that kind of headset one would use when recording. On the round earbuds, the d-pads I had gotten from my mothers had been attached to it. I grabbed my phone from the top of my desk and dropped it into my pocket. I ran downstairs and threw on the hood and looked over to my two partners. Blanc had the laptop warmed up and wore a headset as well, while eating my food.

"Hey."

"To the victor goes the spoils."

"I don't think that's how it works."

"Too bad." I rolled my eyes and looked over to Mina, she had stacked the lunches on top of each other and wrapped them together in a giant cloth. She had also attached straps to the sides so that I could sling them over my shoulders. "Neptune." I turned to see Blanc with a thumb up. "Spotter ready." I nodded and put the lunches over my shoulder.

"I'm ready." I ran to my shoes as fast I could, put them on and opened the door and nearly ran into IF and Compa.

"Woah!"

"EEP!" I stepped out of the way and ran past them.

"Sorry, Iffy, Compa, got something to do. I'll see you later!" I hopped over the front gate and ran down the street.

" _Neptune, take a left."_ Following Blanc's voice, I took turns and parkoured over obstacles to move as fast as possible. As I hurried, I heard IF and Compa talk over Blanc, sounding confused then I heard Mina, probably explaining.

At the same time, I heard Blanc chewing.

"Blanc."

" _Yeah?"_

"Don't eat."

" _Sucks to be you."_ Ugh. Damn it, Blanc.

* * *

After running for what seemed like hours- Man, I should have been on the track team. Too bad I had to look after the house instead.- I saw what obviously was Chika's car-van-thing as the license plate said I LV MIN. The building they stopped at seemed like a villa, as it was secluded and spread apart from the other buildings.

Wearily, I walked up to the door and knocked. Chika opened the door and nearly closed upon seeing me.

"Chi...ka, it's… me. Nep...tune." I removed my hood to show her my face. Chika looked around before pulling me inside.

" _What are you doing here?"_ I removed my package and gave to her.

"Mina's… lunches… you forgot." Mina's wife pulled the food out of my grasp, causing me to collapse on the floor.

"Ooooh~ Mina's home cooking! Oh, that's one of the MANY things I love about her~!" Chika snuggled the package and kneeled down and put an object from me. "Here."

I reached over and grabbed it, rolling to my back. It was usb. I only know one reason why Chika would give me a usb. I looked over to her.

"You know?" The woman nodded.

"Yep. Histy and Arfy told a while ago. So they want your input sent to them later." I groaned and sat up.

"Alright, I gotta go home now." Chika helped me up.

"Want me to take you back home? The girls are resting from practice, so I think it's alright." Remembering all the running I did, I nodded without skipping a beat.

"Yes. Please."

It only took about half an hour to get back home. When I entered my house, I saw IF, Compa and Blanc working on the homework they were given.

"Ah, Nep-Nep! Welcome home~!" Compa gave me a hearty welcome back while the other two just nodded at me.

"Nep, you gonna work with us?" I walked up the stairs, stopping to answer her question.

"Later, got an errand I need to do for my parents." With that I moved to my room and locked the door. I opened booted up my PC. "This better be less than five minutes." Once it was warmed up, I opened my email and typed in my mother's email address. After that, I plugged in the usb and opened it. Inside was a video, I clicked on it.

The video had Noire and Vert standing closer to the camera, the little sisters in the back acting as back up dancers. What do you know, they were going to dance in those clothes after all.

I hit play.

"Hmm…" I watched the girls dance, playing the video over and over again, keeping intense observations on each girl.

"Rom looks stiff. Uni seems uncomfortable with those hip shakes. Ram doesn't work with that dance move, change it. Noire's off pace. Vert has the wrong facial expression. Nepgear's…" I took notes down on everything and anything that seemed right for each dancer. After making sure that I had seen every and any flaw that was made, I compiled them onto the email. I put the individual dancer's name and bulleted what was wrong or needed to be changed, time stamping every precise motion. Once I was done with that, I played the video over and over again, checking over to see if I had missed anything.

Luckily, the dance was quick, it seemed like it was meant for a promotional video, not a complete dance that was meant to be onstage. The actual dance was at least two minutes long. It took me at least an hour and a half before I could send the email with confidence. Relaxing on my chair, I clicked SEND.

Pulling out my phone, I scrolled to the contact named Mother and called. Three rings later, my mother, the one with the book, picked up.

"Yes?"

"Mother, it's me. I sent my input."

"As always, thank you for doing this Neptune. Despite the fact that you loathe idols, you work hard for them."

"Mother, I do this because we're family and because I need to."

"True, not many have observant eyes like you do."

"If that's all, then I gotta go. My friends are downstairs doing homework."

"I hope that I didn't take too much of your time dear." I sighed.

"Mother, I told you." I shut down my PC and walked to my window. The sun was up and the sky was clear. A smile crept up to my face.

"I do what I do." I heard Mother sigh in relief.

"Alright, well take care dear and know that your mother and I love you." My smile burst out into a grin.

"Yeah. I love you too, Mother. I'll see you when you finally get back." I ended the call and turned to my desk. Grabbing my bag, I went downstairs to do some homework.

"Sorry I'm late. The errand took a while!"

"Took you long enough!"

"Sorry. Sorry."

"Anyways, we're almost done now."

"Alright," I sat down at the table, grinning like a pudding lover who just met pudding heaven. "Let's get to work!"

"Yeah!"


	4. Protect

I stretched my arms, having finished my homework in an hour. Blanc was reading while IF and Compa were watching T.V.

"Finally, done…" As I relaxed onto the chair, the door opened and I could hear people talking as they entered the room. I turn around to see Rom and Ram flop onto the floor in front of the table, Uni and Nepgear sit on the couch, Vert sits besides Blanc and Noire relaxes on one of the chairs. Chika, on the other hand, is still full of energy and runs over to Mina, giving her hugs and kisses.

"I'm exhausted…" Nepgear says, her body leaning on the arm rest.

"What's got you all tired?" With luck, Chika hasn't told anyone that I'm basically a choreographer. Peeking at her out of the corner of my eye, I see her still being all lovey dovey with Mina. Oh thank the heavens that Mina's here.

"We just finished practicing our dance moves when we get this message from our managers saying that we needed to tweak the dance. They even showed us where we needed to fix our steps." I tensed upon hearing that. "But whoever that person is, he does a pretty good job." Uni nodded.

"Yeah, We got our choreographer when we first started as an idol group and every one of our dances were unique and were fun to do." Compa put her finger on her chin, looking upwards.

"That's right, Ge-Ge's group is really popular because everyone's dance is unique and specifically made for each of them." Nepgear nodded.

"Yes, I enjoy dancing thanks to our choreographer. I just wish that we'd be able to meet him personally…" IF narrowed her eyes.

"Wait, you've never met your choreographer?" All four girls shook their heads. "That's very suspicious…but at least he does his work well." Thanks, I guess. Suddenly, I felt pressure on my shoulder to see Chika's hand and her head way too close me.

" _So, does anyone else know?"_ The woman whispered into my ear.

" _Just you, Mother and Mom."_ Chika grinned.

" _Don't worry, I'm great at keeping secrets!"_ I hope so. She immediately let go of me and moved over to her sweetheart. I sighed and watched T.V. with the others.

* * *

An hour later, Uni and Nepgear walked up to me. Uni looking very nervous and Nepgear quietly encouraging her friend by pushing her in the back.

"U-Um, Neptune…"

"Yo."

"Can we go to an arcade? I haven't been to one in a long time, so I really want to go to one." I shrugged.

"Why not?" However, there was one flaw with the girl's request. "But, won't people recognize you? I mean, it'd be hard to have a good time with people crowding you and trying to get your autographs… or touching you." They could practically see the venom dripping from my voice.

"OH, I GOT IT!" Noire shot up from her seat and ran into her room. I watched the girl in confusion and turn to her younger sister.

"Do you remember that Noire made our outfits?"

"Vaguely."

"Well…" Not even a minute after she left, the girl ran back into the room. I stared at the person who emerged from her bedroom.

"Who are you?" The girl huffed and put her hands on her hips, extremely proud. She wore a purple tee and white shorts and let her hair down. Somehow, her hair was a light lavender color. I got up and walked over to the home phone. "Nep Jr., what's the number for the police again?"

"Wha-! It's me, Noire!" I put the phone back down.

"Oh, okay. Next time tell me before I call the caps this time, or I get the metal bat from the closet." Noire flinched at the last words. I laughed and told her it was a joke. She frowned at me and pulled Nepgear and Uni into her room.

"So, Noire likes cosplay?" I shrugged my shoulders again.

"I guess so, Blanc. I guess so." I have to admit it, the disguise was pretty convincing. I sat down once again and turned to the cuddling women.

"Aunty Mina and Aunty Chika," Chika froze upon hearing the word 'Aunty' connected to her name. "Chika, you're gonna have to get used to it. I basically see Mina as another mom. So be prepared to hear it a lot, _Aunty_." I could practically see the woman puking from behind her wife. "Anyways, Aunty Mina, could you look over the house while we're gone?"

Mina nodded and turned to Rom and Ram.

"Rom, Ram, do you want to stay here and spend some time with Mommy?" Rom nodded enthusiastically while Ram lied down on the floor.

"Uh huh!"

"Yeah… I'm too tired to move anyways." I thanked the woman and turned around to see Nepgear and Uni.

If you put the two side by side, they basically looked like palette swaps of each other. Except that Uni wore shorts and a tank top while Nepgear wore a dress, still.

"Hey, Nep." I turned to IF. "Can I go with you guys?" Compa raised an arm.

"Me too, Nep-Nep!"

"I'll go too."

"Blanc, that wasn't a question. But sure, why not?" The group cheered and got up to the door. "Hey! I gotta get dressed too, you know." I walked up to my room and threw on my favorite clothes.

I normally wore a simple outfit. It was a white hooded track jacket that had purple on the hood, cuffs and the end of jacket with blue highlights on the sleeves and a blue zipper. It also had an emblem with an 'N' on the zipper. The ends of the hoodie's straps were replaced by broken used usbs. Under it, I wore a blue and white striped sleeveless shirt and a pair of white jeans. I wrapped my beloved headphones around my neck and put my phone and wallet into my pockets and headed downstairs.

"Alright, let's go!"

"Yes, let's." I turned to see a tall busty girl who basically wore a Blanc version of Vert's dress and had brown hair.

"Who're you!?" The girl smiled at me.

"It's me, Nep-Nep. Vert." I stepped back.

"I ain't buying it." Vert seemed hurt by my words. Blanc looked up to her twin.

"So, you cosplay too?" Vert smiled at her sister.

"Well, not really. If I wanted to go with all of you, I'd need a disguise. So, I decided to become like my sister." Although I doubt anyone could see it but me or Mina, but Blanc made a very miniscule smile.

"...You really do look like my sister now…" Blanc said this very quietly, but Vert heard this. She wrapped her arms around Blanc and lifted her into the air.

"Oh Blanc! You don't know how happy it makes me to hear you say that!" She turned left and right, swinging Blanc around. Compa looked at the girl who was hugging Blanc and then turned to looked at the woman who was hugging Mina.

"Nep-Nep, who are they?"

"Oh, she," I pointed at Vert. "Is Blanc's missing twin sister and she's-" I now pointed at Chika. "Is Mina's wife." I looked back to see IF and Compa with eyes the size of plates.

Silence.

Silence again.

…

They're still not talking.

…

Come on, we gotta go.

…

IF? Compa?

How long is this going to take? Oh, they're taking deep breaths now.

…

Any minute now.

And…

One, two, th-

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!?" There we go. Took long enough.

* * *

As Mina explained her relationship with Chika to the now surprised IF and Compa, although it _did_ take some time for the two to ask who they were..., the woman she was talking about crept up behind her and hugged her once more.

"Chika, not now." Mina pulled Chika's arms off of her and the woman collapsed onto the ground with a dramatic flair.

"Boo hoo… Boo hoo… Mina's abandoning me… sniffle sniffle." Everyone sweatdropped upon watching Chika act this way. Mina, on the other hand, shrugged.

"The love of my life, everyone." Mina bent over Chika… and-

HOLY CRAP!

MINA JUST PICKED UP CHIKA AND IS CARRYING HER PRINCESS STYLE!

"Now, now. Just leave us be and go have fun." She then turned to Rom and Ram. "You two, don't stand so close to the T.V." Immediately, the two twins backed off from the T.V.

"Okay!"

…I think the house will be fine.

"Alright, now let's go."

* * *

On the way there, I had put on my headphones and was immersing myself in music again. This time, IF didn't pull my earbud out of my ear. Also, Blanc was doing the same thing, sorta. She was reading a book and Vert tried to pull her out of her world, trying to talk to her sister. Heh, good thing Nep jr. has Uni to talk to so I don't have to talk to-

OW!

SOMEONE PULLED MY EARBUD OUT OF MY EAR!

I turned to see Noire holding onto my earbud. She was curiously putting it close to her ear.

"Excuse me?" Noire looked at me.

"I just wanted to see if you were listening to our music." I snatched my earbud out of her hand to placed it over my ear.

"No. Not in a million years. I don't care." Noire stared at me, hurt. I looked to see everyone staring at me. "What? It's not like I'm telling the truth." I put on my earbud and continued towards the arcade, leaving the others behind.

* * *

Once we reached the arcade, Blanc and I sat down on a bench. The both of us immersed ourselves in our own worlds. Uni and Nepgear went over to one of those co-op gun games after getting some tokens. Vert attempted to get Blanc out of her world once more, this time with the intent to bring over to the photo booth and take some pictures.

Eventually, Blanc gave in and I was left alone.

After listening to a couple of songs, I decided to get some tokens. Alright, I got at least exchanged two hundred credits, and now I have eight tokens. I wandered around looking at the attractions.

There was a racing game. Nah.

Those luck based games. I hate those, they're really random for me.

Come to think of it, I haven't seen Noire after I dissed he-

"Not again!" Speak of the devil. No, she's a girl. Succubus? Nah. Oh screw it. Speak of the black haired idol who is currently a palette swap of me or Nepgear.

Noire was at one of those annoying crane games, and from the sounds of it, she's not doing well. I inched closer, and it seemed like she was aiming for one prize in particular. It was cylindrical in shape and was a bright yellow with a brown top. I was only able to see what she's been trying to get when I was right next to her. Luckily, she didn't notice me and put another token into the machine and attempted again.

She was trying to go for a stuffed pudding. It was an appealing yellow with a delicious looking brown topping. Aw, it even had a smiley face on it. The claw reached down for the object once again, this time grabbing onto it… and let go of it immediately.

"No!" She reached into her pocket but froze. I guess she ran out of tokens apparently.

"What's up, out of tokens?" She whipped around, her eyes wide in surprise.

"No. I thought you didn't care, huh?" Oh, she's mad about that. I guess I would be too if someone acted like that.

"Hey…" Noire crossed her arms and walked away. Welp, I screwed up. Didn't I? I looked around, seeing that no one I knew was around. I took a token out of my pocket and put it in the machine.

Moving the crane… Okay, it's over the pudding… Come on. Grab it. Grab it. Damn!

I looked left and then right. Well, let's try again.

Come on… Goddammit!

...Nope.

...Not again!

...Why!

...Damn it!

...NO!

One last try… NO! DAMN IT!

I looked around and felt my wallet in my pocket, full of money. Alright, let's do this.

* * *

Finally… I did it. Half an hour… and two thousand credits… eighty tokens… and I _finally_ got the pudding thing. I held up to the air and walked over to the bench that I sat at. Everyone was there, except…

"Where's Noire?" Everyone looked at me.

"Coming from the person who gave her the cold shoulder?"

"Nep-Nep, that was mean."

"Yeppy, Nep-Nep is a meanie face." Okay, I get it.

"Alright, I get it. I'm a jerk. So, are you just gonna insult me or are you gonna tell me where she is or not?" Uni glared at me. I'm actually sorta intimidated by that.

"Why do you care? Oh wait, I thought you didn't!" Ouch. I held up the pudding.

"Apologies, what else?" Suddenly, everyone looked at each other and looked somewhat guilty.

"Um, Neptune?" Nepgear pointed behind me. I turned to see Noire surrounded by three guys, looking very annoyed and uncomfortable, one of the guys getting really touchy with her.

 _Shit._

I looked at the group and told them to stay there. Also, just in case, I handed the pudding to Uni and headed over to Noire.

* * *

I listened to the guys' failed attempt to flirt with Noire.

"Hey, cutie. Wanna go hang out with us?" Obviously, Noire scooted away from the guy, disgusted.

"Get away from me, creep!" The guy grabbed onto Noire's wrist.

"Oh, come on. Just for a bit." Noire struggled against the guy's grip.

"H-Hey, let me go!" He leaned closer to Noire and…

I grabbed the dude by the back of his collar and pulled away from Noire, the other two surprised by my appearance. Noire looked at me, her eyes wide.

I smiled at her and approached her casually. Well, the girlfriend cliche won't work since she looks like me, but maybe I can use that to my advantage.

"Hey, sis." Before Noire could retort or yell at me, I put a finger up to my lips and winked at her. Good, she relaxed. "Come on, let's go home. Mom's gonna get mad if we do go now." I wrapped an arm around her and pulled her away from her oppressors. "Scuse us."

As we were about to rejoin the others, I felt a hand grab jacket. Crap, an altercation. I pushed Noire towards the others and turned around. The guy I had pulled away was giving me the stink eye and his buddies were cracking their knuckles.

"Hey, man. Why'd ya gotta ruin our date?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Date? It looked like you were gonna do anything but a date?" I sneered at him. He growled at me and swung his fist. I anticipated this and dodged, grabbing his arm and kneeing him in the stomach. The guy doubled over as the other two approached me. I shoved the guy I was holding onto one of the dudes and strafed past the other. Grabbing his arms, I put them behind his back.

"Alright, if you just let me go in peace, then I won't hav-" The dude ducked his head and something metal smashed clear into my forehead. I stumbled back, my vision blurring from the attack. Ugh, what was that? As my vision cleared, the guy who hit me swung down at me. I tried to sidestep but the object hit me in the shoulder, causing me to kneel on the ground.

I gripped my shoulder, the pain searing through it. Now that my vision was clear, I could see that he was holding a metal bat. I raised my hand to block the oncoming attack, but I felt another one behind me. I collapsed on the ground, my head swimming through consciousness.

"Heh, all bark. No bite." They began to beat me down with metal bats. I don't know where they hit or for how long, all I could do now was try to keep conscious. Through my blurry vision, I could see figures disappearing and reappearing.

"Nep...ep!" Huh? Who's that…Compa? Or was it Vert? I can't tell, too blurry

"Kid…ill consc…" I don't know this voice. Oh crap, it hurts.

"Neptune!" I could vaguely make out a black figure… Noire? No, she's wearing purple. Nepgear, probably.

No good…

I can't…

Keep...going…

Anymore…

"Neptune!"

I hope she's okay…

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

..

.

Noire...


	5. Bigger Family

My eyelids felt heavy, as if I didn't want to wake up. Man, what time did I sleep last night? Ugh, I think I slept for too long. My head's hurting really bad. I think this headache is messing with my senses too. My room smells like polish cleaner and my bed doesn't feel the same, and… I don't have a bunk bed, so why does my bed have these rail things on the side?

Wait…

I opened my eyes to feel the harmful effects of keeping your eyes closed have looking into sunlight.

"Argh!" Once the light faded, I saw that the ceiling was white and the walls were white as well. I looked to the right to see an open window, the sun was setting, making the sky a mix of orange and yellows. Pretty. I looked to the left and…

"Is that a heart monitor?" That means, I looked down at my arms. Yep, needles are in my arms. It's terrifying that I don't feel them. As I tried to move my arms, the door opened.

"Oh, you're awake." An elderly man walked in. He wore a white coat, held a clipboard, possibly to write a prescription or description of my situation, and had a gentle aura to him sorta like…

"Compa's grandpa!" The old man grinned at me and carefully ruffled my head.

"Hey, kid! I didn't expect you to be here out of everyone. I had at most expect either Blanc or little Iffy, and remember, just call me 'Gramps', I ain't afraid of being old." He smiled even wider. "Lets me know that I'm living life." I'm in the hospital?

"What happened?" Gramps frowned and put his hand on his hip.

"You don't remember? Well, I guess that comes with getting a metal bat to the face."

A bat?

A bat…

Oh.

Oh…

Oh yeah. Now I remember.

I made friends with three metal bats while trying to protect-

"Noire!" I sat up, my body hurting all over from moving so fast. "Guh! Gramps, is everyone-?"

"Calm down son. Your friends are fine." I slowly, and painfully, relaxed into my bed.

"Oh good. I was worried there for a second." Gramps shook his head and looked at his clipboard.

"I think you should be more worried about yourself, Neptune?"

"Why?"

"You suffered a concussion from your little scuffle." Ouch. "And bruises and some cracked bones." Yeesh, that doesn't sound go- "Specifically in the ribcage and upper torso."

"Okay, I get it. I got messed up." Gramps chuckled.

"You were never one for long detailed descriptions." He sat down in the chair positioned to my left. "Other than that, you've slept well after losing consciousness."

"How long was I out?"

"About three days."

"...What?"

"Yes, those three took plenty of swings at your noggin. I'm surprised you woke up so early. It was a good thing that Blanc and little Iffy were there to save you, or you could have died from their assault… although three against one wasn't very fair to begin with."

"Blanc and Iffy?" Gramps nodded again.

"They chased those three away and then my granddaughter called the police on them, your friends backing you up and saying that you fought in self-defense." Those girls, helping me so much, I guess I gotta pay them back later. "In fact," As Gramps looked to the side, the door opened and Compa and Iffy walked in. "they're here to see you."

"Grampa, are you done with your regular check up on Nep-Nep?" IF's eyes widened as she saw me. I smiled and waved to her. I guess that Compa hasn't noticed that I'm awake.

"Yes, I just finished." He then gestured to me. Upon seeing that I was awake, Compa dropped whatever she had in her hands, tears quickly forming in her eyes. It looked like it was a bag of apples, probably was going to make rabbit apples or something Compa-like.

"N-N-N…" Compa rubbed her eyes and moved to me at a fast pace. Wait is she… "Nep.." She crouched. Oh crap.

"No, Compa. Don't!" It was too late.

"Nep-Nep, I was sooooo scared!" My friend jumped at me, elated. I felt the full force of a teenage girl, and with the wounds that I have. Well…

* * *

"AAAH!" Let's just say it wasn't pleasant.

After Compa calmed down, the two of them sat down, taking Gramps' place as he still had to do his daily rounds.

"So what did I miss?" Not wanting to be left behind, I asked the one of the most obvious questions I could ask besides, 'What happened?", since I already asked Gramps that.

"We chased away those jerks that att-"

"Heard that."

"We called the po-"

"That too." IF narrowed her eyes.

"Well then what do you to know?"

"How's everyone else doing?" The two looked at each other, realizing that I was worried about the others.

"Well, Gear cried her eyes out when she got a good look at you."

"Blanny was super mad."

"Vert was calm and was the one who advised Compa to call for help."

"And Uni and Noire are really guilty, thinking that it was their fault that this happened to you." Well, I can't blame them for thinking that.

"So, I'm guessing that everyone else is at home waiting?" The two looked at each other once more.

"Yeah, mostly." Mostly? What do you me- "Aunty Mina called your parents." Oh.

"How did they react?" IF scratched her cheek.

"Well, th-" The door busted open.

" _ **NEPTUNE!"**_ My mom ran inside, my mother coming in behind her. She looked around wildly, her silver hair whipping around her face. Upon seeing me in bed, her face paled.

"Uh, hey mom." She inched close to me, her face falling further and further into despair as she stepped closer. Geez, mom. Keep doing that and I'll feel guilty for almost getting killed.

" _ **What did they DO to you!?"**_ Mom stomped on the ground with the heel of her boot while Mother wrapped her arms around me, her book in my lap. I could feel Mother silently weeping and I hugged her back.

"Well, these guys approached Noire and I pulled her away. In response, I got metal bats to the head and body until I ended up here." Mom narrowed her eyes and turned to IF.

"IF, did you figure out what they looked like?" IF shook her head and Mom growled.

"They were silhouettes anyways." Mom put a hand to her forehead and pinched the bridge of her nose. She then turned to Compa.

"Did your grandfather say when Neptune will be home?" Compa put her hand on her cheek.

"Grampa said that Nep-Nep would be good to go home tomorrow." Mother let of me and she sighed in relief.

"Thank goodness." She smiled at me tearfully. "Honey, please be careful next time. Your mother and I may not be around all the time, but we still care for you. We don't want you to get hurt." Okay, I know that Mother. But… stop. You're gonna make me cry.

"Nep, you're crying."

 _DAMN IT._

I tried to wipe my eyes, but I couldn't due to my wounds and the pain that I felt from moving. Instead, reached into her pocket and wiped my eyes for me.

"Although I'm really ticked off that you're hurt, I'm proud of you Neptune. You protected Noire and did your best, even though you got beat." Thanks, Mom.

Actually…

"Mom, Mother, when did you get home?" My mother looked at me.

"Today, well a couple of hours ago really."

"I wish we could stay, but we have to go immediately." Oh, well. That sucks…

I think my parents saw my face sadden and tried to cheer me up.

"Don't worry, Neptune. Even if we can't be together, you'll still have a family."

"Well, yeah I have Nep Jr. and the Nishizawas. Why are you saying that?"

"Well…"

After I recovered from my wounds, I went home immediately. I hope that Nep Jr. and the others haven't been worrying for too long. Luckily, I didn't have to use crutches or any sort of help, but my bruises still sting if they're touched. As I neared my house, what my parents had told were true.

The Nishizawa residence was under renovation. I looked to see people working on the building. I think they were adding another floor or something. Shaking the thought out of my head, I entered my house.

"Neptune!" As I walked through the front door, Nepgear happened to be nearby. It just so happens that she took a leaf from Compa's book. Guess how that turned out.

"AAAAAAH!" Yep. The bruises hurt. Nepgear let go of me and the others came to the front door to greet me. Rom and Ram attempted to hug me as well, but thankfully Mina and Chika held them back. Vert smiled and Blanc gave me a thumbs up, which I happily gave back to her. Finally, Noire and Uni came downstairs. Once they saw me…

"Oh, no." No, back away. Don't get any closer!

"AAAAAAH!" OW! The body tackles, stop it. It hurts…

* * *

"Sorry, Neptune. We got carried away." Uni apologized while Noire looked away, embarrassed.

"It's alright. Thanks for being worried." Uni nodded and she went behind Noire and pushed her towards me. Noire looked towards Uni and then the others, trying to keep her gaze off of me. Eventually the others were encouraging her and then went to do their own things, leaving the two of us alone.

Silence.

I tried to talk to Noire, but then she got flustered. When she talked to me, she began to stutter and looked down at the floor.

I scratched my cheek, unsure of what to say. Well, might as try talking to her.

"Hey." "Um." Okay, we both interrupted each other. Awkward.

"You go first."

"N-No, you go first." Again, awkward.

"Um…well…" Noire fidgeted, putting her hands together. She bowed down, her hair spilling over her shoulders. "I'm sorry." I scratched the back of my head. So, that's how it's going to be.

"Hey, don't like that. It's not like it was your fau-"

"No! It was my fault! If I hadn't been so stubborn, you wouldn't have- You even got me…" Oh, I see. So she got it after all. I placed a hand over her head.

"Noire. Look up." The girl lifted her head, tears were beginning to fall from her eyes. Gently, I wiped her tears away from her eyes with my finger. "I'm alright now. It's okay." I smiled at the girl. "Anyways, you accepted my apology, so there's no reason for me to not accept yours." Noire let out a breath of relief and wiped away the rest of her tears.

"Good…" She then looked to behind her and to me with wide eyes. "Oh, did you hear? That-"

"Yeah, yeah. I know." From now on, this place was going to get a lot more interesting.

"The Nishizawas are staying."


	6. Adjustments

"The Nishizawas are staying." To be honest, I'm really happy that the Nishizawas are here. They're going to be very helpful, since I haven't fully recovered from these wounds. I mean, these bruises still hurt. I just hope th-

"Um, no. That's not it." Noire snapped me out of my thoughts and I looked at her. The girl was now flustered and nervous.

"Well…"

* * *

What I didn't know was that something happened while I was gone. In our house, there was three bedrooms upstairs and two downstairs. Obviously, the top bedrooms belong to me, Nep Jr. and my parents while the bottom two are guest rooms. Here's the deal. Initially, this house had one person, me. Then, there were four people, due to the addition of Noire, Nep Jr. and Uni, which made the lower two bedrooms useful. However, add the Nishizawas: Mina, Chika, Blanc, Vert, Rom and Ram. That's six people. Four plus six equals ten. So, in order to make room, Uni and Noire gave up their rooms. So there were three free rooms, the two downstairs and my parents' rooms. That was a good thing.

Rom and Ram took Uni's old room, good. Logical since their twins.

Uni's moved in with Nep Jr., that's alright. Those two get along well together.

Blanc and Vert took Noire's room. Great for Vert, I don't how Blanc feels about it.

Chika and Mina are in my parents' rooms… I hope they don't mess up anything in there.

And finally…

* * *

"Why are you in my room?" I'm not mad about having a roommate, but I'm not thrilled either. I'm pretty sure most parents would NOT like having two teens that sort of know each other, live in the same room. Note to self: Call my mom. Pretty sure she's done something.

"Hey, it's not like I wanted to room with you or anything." Noire looked to the side, crossed arms and narrowed eyes. Ugh, it makes me feel like I'm scolding my teenage daughter or something, but I'm not. I'm asking why she's in my room, sleeping on my bed.

AND. IN. MY. ROOM. Hey, I ain't a dating sim protagonist who's trying to get event flags. I'm a dude, who just got out of the hospital, and just learned that the girl who got me in there in the first place, is now living in my personal bubble.

Great. Just… great.

… Thank whatever religion is out there that I have nothing to hide.

"I mean…" Noire lowered her head. "I originally roomed with Blanc and Vert, but..." Noire pressed her fingers together. "I wanted to give them some more time to bond as sisters since Vert's an idol and she won't be around her sister that often."

Oh.

"I could have been with Uni and Nepgear, but I wanted to give my little sister some alone time and since we're both idols, we could get closer anytime… and Uni really wanted to room with Nepgear."

Okay. Now... I feel bad, makes me hate having a heart. But hey, gotta deal with it.

I scratched the back of my head, feeling awkward and uncomfortable.

"Okay. I get… what you mean. It's just… why didn't you just kick me out of my room and had me sleep in the living room?" As I asked this, Noire's cheeks turned a light pink for some reason.

"Well, I feel bad for getting you in the hospital. So, I thought that I could help you recover and also… I trust you." Oh crap. Her smile, it's so trusting. Must. Look. Away. Or else, I might hug her! And doing that after she just said that would not be right… also adding the fact that if I did hug her, my bruises would act up.

"Anyways, did you _do_ anything to my room? For example, change the design, furniture or something like that?" Noire shook her head

"Not really, although I did add a sewing machine so I could keep with my sewing hobby." All I could do to that was shrug. There was nothing wrong with that. It's just a sewing machine.

* * *

There wasn't that much that happened that for the rest of the day. Everyone went through their regular activities.

Nep Jr. was on her phone, I think she was looking robots or something. I have no idea. It looked like robots, but she looked like she watching one of her favorite animes or something. Eh. Her hobbies.

Uni had a portable gaming system and was playing a game that had her hunting after a gigantic monster in order to harvest it's body to make stronger armor to hunt after another gigantic monster and repeat the cycle.

Blanc was reading (again), but this time she finished her book. Immediately after finishing her book, she took a notebook and wrote down something. Probably some ideas for a story or novel or whatever people do when they write.

Rom and Ram were doodling over a coloring book. Apparently, Chika bought that book for them when they drew all over one of Blanc's favorite novel while I was out. From what I heard, Blanc obviously didn't take it well. Although I thought I saw a book with oddly colored cover and some of the edges of the pages had some tints of color on it. Weird.

Vert, well, her case was special. Technically, Vert's hobby was to spend time with her sisters. However, Blanc and the twins were busy. No matter how hard she tried, none of them budged. So she spent the day staring at the T.V. with her head on her hand, flipping through the channels and occasionally looking at her sisters hopefully. She was disappointed.

Chika and Mina… were Chika and Mina.

"Minnnnnna! Lemme hug yoooooou!"

"Oh, Chika…"

Make it stop. It's too fluffy.

Me, on the other hand, had to copy Blanc's notes from the days that I missed. Since I was knocked out on Saturday and I was unconscious for three days. So, I missed Monday to Wednesday, and I was checked out of the hospital Thursday afternoon. That doesn't count all the homework that I missed and have to make up. Ugh. I hate my life, sometimes.

I'm okay with all that but…

I have to sleep… with a girl, that's not my sister, nor my parents, nor Blanc, Iffy or Compa, who count as sisters to me.

...Yeah.

* * *

Dinner was over now, and I'm sitting on my bed. In my sleepwear, which was a wife beater, still don't why it's called like that, and some shorts.

Ew. I see the bruises on my arms. I sorta regret sleeping without sleeves. They're all purple and swollen, it's gross. I'm gonna stop talking about this right about n-

"Sorry, I'm late. I'm really careful with flossing." I looked up to see Noire in monochrome pajamas. Oh thank you, it's not a nightgown. Ok, now I look like a creep. I turned away from Noire and looked at my bed. Luckily, it was king sized, so there was enough room to keep some distance while being comfortable.

"It's alright. Just making sure, you're okay with this, right?" Noire shook her head.

"Of course. Normally, I'd want you to sleep on a futon, but you're injured and sleeping on the floor might not be good for your wounds." I guess.

I yawned and looked at the clock. It's eleven now. Dang, I can't stay awake much longer.

"Oh, are you tired now?" I nodded. Noire smiled and sat down at her sewing machine. "Alright then, you go to sleep now. I'll work on my project before I go to sleep and don't worry, the motor to this machine is very quiet." I nodded again, but this time I flopped onto my bed, threw my covers over my body...

Ow. Not a bright idea, bruises...

and knocked out.

* * *

 ***Nep* *Nep* *Nep***

My alarm clock rang. I stretched my shoulders, being careful not to have my bruises graze the bed. I reached for my alarm clock… and I can't move. I'm not that seriously injured, am I? So why can't I-

"Mmm." I heard the sounds of a person next to and felt a grip around my tors- Ow. There's a bruise. Ssss. Ahhh, that doesn't feel good. Ouch. It stings.

…

Okay, now that the pain's gone. I looked down to see an arm around my stomach. Wait, there's no here but… oh no.

 ***Nep* *Nep* *Nep***

No. No. No. No. NO.

I turned to my side, slowly. Please tell me I'm dreaming… nope.

I'm not dreaming. Ah crapbaskets.

This...

This is bad.

Noire was lying _beside_ me. Her arm was _around_ me, _holding_ _me!_ I held myself back with all my might, trying not to scream or shout. Noire made some satisfied mumbles and nuzzled my shoulder.

Ow. There's a bruise there too.

There was a small smile on her face.

"Mmm, this body pillow feels so nice~." Wha- Body pillow? She's sleep talking! Let go of me. I need to get out! Oh dear lord, she's wrapping her leg around me now! I'm not a pillow!

 ***Nep* *Nep* *Nep***

It's comfy! It's so comfy!

I really wish it wasn't!

Wait…

Noire wakes up earlier than me, but she's still asleep. Why!? I looked up for the reason why she's asleep and I looked to see Noire's sewing machine. There was a new outfit on the top of it. How long was she was awake!? Noire! Wake up! Please!

 ***Nep* *Nep* *Nep***

Someone turn that alarm OFF!

* * *

Eventually, breakfast came around the corner… and Noire woke up. I was able to wake being asleep and got up when she left the room really quickly. When I came downstairs, Noire was already eating and her cheeks turned a light pink when she saw me. When we locked eyes, she looked away.

Rom and Ram had finished eating, since they ate cereal. So the two of them were watching T.V. while Uni and Nepgear were doing some self studying on the table. Makes sense, I mean, those girls need to get some form of education. Vert was taking her time eating, while Blanc nibbled on some toast. Very. Very. Slowly. Chika was stuffing any of the food that someone didn't claim for themselves down her throat. Finally, Mina was making lunch, having eaten first.

I quickly stuffed my mouth with food, since I have to go to school early and get the work I missed. Upon finishing, I sent a message to Iffy and Compa, telling them that they don't need to stop by since I have to get my work and Blanc has morning duty.

"Blanc, come on. We gotta go!" Blanc stood up, nibbling on another piece of toast. She followed after me, still eating.

I went upstairs and got dressed, quickly. I ran downstairs and went to Blanc… She's still standing in front of her door… and eating. Blanc handed me her toast and went inside. A minute later, she walked outside in her uniform. Blanc held her hand out. I looked at her and looked at the toast in my hand. Oh, I handed back to her and Blanc began nibbling on the bread.

We went to the front door to see Mina with lunches at the door.

"You two, study hard." As Mina bade us goodbye, Chika tried to sneak up on her and grab the lunches, but Mina smacked her hand off. Chika made an exaggerated face and collapsed to the ground.

"Oh, Mina! Why did you do that!? Now… I fear that I might be dying…cough, cough." Mina raised her eyebrows and she handed us our lunches. She waved us goodbye and turned to the dramatic Chika.

* * *

As we walked to school, I put on an earbud and listened to my music. Blanc, on the other hand, had finally finished her toast.

"So, body pillow. Huh?"

"You heard?"

"Saw. So?"

"Not talking about it."

"Did you enjoy it?"

"No." She stared at me with her blank eyes.

"..." Oh, for hell's sake. I can't get past her.

"Maybe."

"At least you can breathe." Huh?

"You too?"

"Yep."

"How was it?" Blanc looked up at the sky.

"Oxygen is a godsend." Amen, sister. Amen.

I brofisted with Blanc and the two of us walked together to school.


	7. Birthday and Feels

Since we arrived to school early, Blanc and I decided to drop off our things at our desks. I left my bag on my des-

Wait.

Wait…

What. What? _What!?_

" _ **You saw that!?**_ " I whipped around to see Blanc turn away, a smirk on her face. The girl nodded. "Then why didn't you do anything?"

"I didn't have any reason to." Wha-?

"Then wh-" Hold on, she sleeps downstairs and the kitchen downstairs. "So, why did you go upstairs and look into my room?" My room is across from the bathroom, so there's no reason for her to _think_ of looking into my room aside from needing something, or being bored.

"Mom told me to wake you up?" Okay, really? Blanc looked at me, her mouth now under her control, but her eyes… were shining with laughter.

"You _had_ a reason, yo-" Blanc cut me off by speaking.

"Besides." Oh, this better be good.

"Besides what?" Blanc looked away again, this time using her mouth to stifle some of her laughter.

"It looked funny." Oh for th- Really? Really.

"Blanc."

"What?" She looks like there' nothing with it! Before I could find the words to retort with, one of classmates, who had morning duty with Blanc, called to her.

"Nishizawa! We have duty, come on!"

"That's my cue. Later, Neptune." Rrgh. I'll talk to her about this later. Right now, I gotta go meet Ms. Jinguuji.

* * *

Opening the door to the teachers' office...s, I looked inside to see Ms. Jinguuji and Mr. Ryghts, who taught computers, talking. It sounded like Mr. Ryghts was talking nonstop about his daughter that his wife, who's a counselor here, recently gave birth to.

"Oh, you should have seen her eyes. They looked exactly like mine!" Scratch that, he _is_ talking about his daughter.

Ms. Jinguuji looked exhausted as I got closer.

"Uh… Excuse me?" Upon seeing me, a wave of relief spread over Ms. Jinguuji.

"Oh, I'm sorry Mr. Ryghts, but I must take care of this." Mr. Ryghts shrugged and grabbed some books.

"That's alright. I have to take these to the librarian anyways, chiao!" He left the room with gusto, humming to himself. Ms. Jinguuji turned to me.

"Is the-"

"Oh yes, I almost forgot!" Mr. Ryght's head popped from the side of the door frame. "Tell your daughters I said hi!" And with that he waved goodbye and closed the door.

"Wait, he knows Noire and Uni?" Ms. Jinguuji sighed.

"He's an avid fan of idols." Oh. Good thing he has a kid, or else I might be concerned. I don't know why, but I feel that way.

"Aaaanyways, I'm here for the work that I missed." Ms. Jinguuji nodded and walked to her desk, shuffling through folders.

"Right, although I knew that beforehand."

"Ar- Are you a spy?" Ms. Jinguuji looked at me and returned back to her search.

"No. It's just obvious." Oh, for a minute there I thought she had a ton of cameras and mics hidden all around the city. I have no idea why I thought that, but I have a feeling that Ms. Jinguuji _could_ do that. "Also, it was very idiotic of you to challenge three people at once."

"You heard that?" My homeroom teacher gave me a dull stare.

"I heard from Blanc the first day you didn't show up for class." Oh, thanks Blanc. Saved me some trouble. Still kinda peeved she didn't help me though.

"Yeah, not one of my best ideas." Ms. Jinguuji smiled… I was not prepared for that.

"I'm done reprimanding you as a person with common sense, but now I must praise you as the mother whose daughter you protected." She was genuinely happy with me.

"Well, I did what I thought I had to do."

"Fight three armed opponents even without a helmet. Great idea." Okay, I know now that Ms. Jinguuji can be sarcastic. Good to know.

"Hey, I already said that I regret that decision." Ms. Jinguuji chuckled as I scratched the back of my head.

"However," Ms. Jinguuji's voice turned stern...er. "There is one more thing I'd like to discuss with you." She turned around with a folder, I'm guessing that that's the work I missed while I was gone. I reached out for it and my teacher handed the folder to me.

"Thank, Ms. Jinguuji. So what di-!" I looked to see my teacher give me a stare. It wasn't angry or frustrated in any way, But I swear for all the pudding that I've eaten in my whole life, which I need to restock by the way since everyone my supply while was gone, that was one of the most intimidating stares that I ever received in my life, beaten only by Mother.

"So, I received a phone call from Mrs. Nishizawa-"

"Which one?" Ms. Jinguuji blinked at my question. Hey, it was a legitimate one. There are two Mrs. Nishizawas.

"The one who hadn't changed her name after marriage." Oh, Mina Nishizawa. "Going back on topic, she called a day after Blanc told me of your situation and…" Oh crap, the stare is scarier now. "I heard from her that there were certain living arrangements that were changed." Double crap. If I think I know what she's talking about then-

"You haven't done anything to my daughter have you?" Yep, knew it. I might die today.

"No! I wouldn't!" Ms. Jinguuji raised her eyebrow.

"Hmm?" She leaned forward, making me feel uncomfortable, a sure sign of it was the sweat rolling down the back of my neck.

"If I did, I'd be dead by now! From both sides!" I'm serious, I know Ms. Jinguuji would kill me if I so much as looked at Noire funny. Also, I don't think my parents would like if I did something stupid.

Ms. Jinguuji backed away and turned around, took a few steps away and… laughed? After a while, my teacher turned around, a smile on her face once more.

"I'm kidding, somewhat." Sorta scared, but at least I'm not going to die. "After what you've done for Noire and Uni, I can see that you're responsible. Rash," Hey. "but responsible all the same."

"Thanks, Ms. Jinguuji." Yeah, thanks for the tongue lashing and the terror.

"Call me Kei." Uh, that's sorta too close.

"Is that alright?" Ms. Jin-I mean Kei nodded.

"You're taking care of my daughters and I know your parents. So I believe that I should at least allow you to the option of having a first name basis." Ms. Jingu- Kei sat down at her desk. "I believe you should head to class now." I looked at the clock and the wall and nodded.

"Thank you, Ms. Jin- Kei."

* * *

On my way back to class, some more students have come to school and were loitering the hallways, chatting away or just lounging around.

"Hey, did you see that one idol with the purple hair?"

"Oh yeah! She looks so cute!" Heh, Nep Jr.'s got some fans.

"Man, I wish I got get a hold of her and-" Oh no. They better not be-

"Pfft, come on dude. Personally, I'd bend her over Uni and-" Stop. You bastards better stop now.

"Ha. You guys are weird. I rather go for Vert or Uni's sister." No. That's enough, please stop. "She body's perfect, I just wanna-"

 _ **NO! THAT'S IT! I'M CAN'T-**_

"Neptune." I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned around to see Blanc. She looked straight into my eyes, her cold, calm ones, locking with my, most likely, burning, angry ones. "We're going to class." She pulled me, with a firm and strong grip, down the hallway.

"B-But-" Blanc turned to look at me again. This time her eyes were firm and unwavering.

"Class. _Now._ " Geh! Now I know it's impossible to argue with her.

* * *

I sat down at my desk with huff, placing my chin on my hand and staring at the board in front of me. Blanc sat down behind me and poked me in the back.

"Neptune." I glared ahead, attempting to ignore my friend. The poking came even harder.

"Neptune." Once again, I ignored Blanc.

" _Hey!_ " Hu- Wha- OW! As my chair fell back into place, I grabbed and rubbed the back of my head, attempting to soothe the pain. I turned around, tears piling up in my eyes and glared at the girl, who in turn was glaring at me.

"What!?" Blanc took a deep breath and calmed herself down.

"Neptune, I know how you feel about those creepy pricks." Blanc lowered her gaze. "But I also know that you don't want to tarnish your family name and your sister's success."

Damn it.

I know she's right but…

Damn it.

"Yeah, I know. Thanks, Blanc." Blanc shook her head.

"I know you know, but I _do_ know that you're willing to throw yourself in danger in order to protect people you love. Remember that swing accident?" Heh, yeah. That was stupid of me. Broke my leg and arms, but at least Iffy was safe.

"Yeah…" Blanc raised her fist a little into the air.

"Don't worry, Neptune. I've been there for you, and I'll still be there." I felt a smile creep up my face. I raised my own fist and bumped hers.

"Thanks, Blanc." Blanc smiled.

"What is family for?" That's right. I might act like I'm all alone all the time, but Blanc, IF and Compa have been there for me. Even though we're not related, we're still family.

"Alright class take your seats." I turned back to the board and felt Blanc lean close to my ear.

 _"Hey, could you help me with something later today?"_ I grinned at my not-sister-but-still-a-sister.

 _"Sure!"_

* * *

After class, lunch obviously came. Blanc and I moved four desks to make a square. IF and Compa walked into room as soon as the two of us sat down. IF had bought some bread and milk from the school store, although Compa made lunch for the both of them while Blanc and I took out the lunches that Aunty Mina made for us.

As we dug in, I turned to Blanc, who was sitting next to me.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" Blanc swallowed the mouthful of food that she had in her mouth.

"Well, Vert's birthday is on the weekend and I wanna get her something special, but I don't know what to get her." Well, I had no idea- wait a second.

"Aren't the two of you twins?" Blanc nodded. That's right. That makes Vert… younger than me… that doesn't seem right with how she's built. Compa lit up upon hearing Blanc's situation.

"Oh. Oh! OH!" She stood up raising her hand, and getting a lot of attention. IF darted her head left and right while attempting to make the girl sit down.

"Compa, you didn't need to raise your hand." Compa bounced in her seat.

"Let's go to the mall later!"

"That's a good idea." Compa smiled upon being praised by IF. I turned to Blanc.

"What do you think?" Blanc smiled and nodded enthusiastically… Well, as enthusiastically as her face could show.

"Thanks guys."

* * *

It was decided. IF and Compa would wait for Blanc to finish her duties while I called home to tell everyone what we were doing.

When Blanc showed up, the four of us walked over to the train station. The nearest mall was two stations down, so it'll take some time to get there. We boarded the train and were able to get some seats.

Upon sitting down, Blanc… didn't take out a book, surprisingly. Instead, she crossed her arms and closed her eyes, deep in thought. I put on one of my headphones while Compa stared out into the scenery and IF flipped open her phone and began to look through it.

"Neptune."

"Hmm?"

"I still can't think of anything. Got any ideas?"

"Well, what does she like?"

"Vert likes a lot of things really. She's into small things, fluffy things, adorable things…" Oh, oh crap. She's going through an _ENTIRE_ list of things Vert likes. I looked at the other two, both distracted by their own devices.

Okay, if it looks like Blanc's distracted. If I can just, slowly, put my other headpho-

"Don't even think about it." Damn. Oh well, I set myself up for this. I might as well listen to it.

…

…

…

She didn't stop until we got to our station…

* * *

After getting off the train, we walked over to the mall. Good thing it was nearby the station, or else I'd never go here.

We looked through a lot of shops. Clothing stores, jewelry stores, secondhand stores, book stores and even that one stores that only sells women's clothing, much to my discomfort.

"Nope."

"No."

"Nuh-uh."

"Nadda."

"That won't work."

"Ew."

"Not that."

Sadly, the only person who found something for Vert was IF.

* * *

"Should we take a break?" The three of us nodded upon hearing IF's suggestion.

We went over to one of those very common and household fastfood chains. IF and I ordered while Blanc and Compa found us some seats.

IF ordered a cheeseburger and a soda. Compa ordered some chicken nuggets and shake. For Blanc, a chicken sandwich and tangerine juice, don't know how she got that. While I got a double bacon cheeseburger meal with a soda.

Once we ordered, IF needed to use the restroom so I took her receipt and waited for our food.

"Hey! It's that purple haired punk!" Huh? I turned around to see… Oh damn it. It's those three guys from last week.

I slumped my shoulders and gave a look to the sitting IF and Blanc, telling them to stay there. Good thing too, since Blanc was about to stand up.

"So, what's up with this idiot?" The three of the surrounded me and I stood still, waiting for them to stop circling me.

"Sorry, I don't speak retard." The one who tried to molest Noire moved up to me.

"Funny, coming from the guy who needed to two chicks to save his ass."

"Ironic, coming from you." He glared at me.

"What'd you say?" I rolled my eyes.

"You, needed to other guys to fight me. Not only that, you needed arm yourselves with _metal bats_ just to take me down, one guy. The sad part is that you were chased away by two _girls_." I shook my head, giving them as much disappointment as I possibly could. Enraged, the guy grabbed me by the collar.

"Orders 64 and 65!" I gripped the guy's wrist tightly, forcing him to let go of me.

"Oh, what do you know? Those are mine. Later." I left the dude and his pals growling as I grabbed the food and headed over to the table.

"Neptune, what the hell was that?" I placed the designated food in front of whoever ordered it.

"Just the dudes that beat me senseless last Saturday." IF walked up to the table, oblivious to the whole thing. "Hey, Iffy. Let's eat."

* * *

Once we finished eating, we decided to keep looking for presents.

"Nope."

"No."

"Nuh-uh."

"Nadda."

"That won't work."

"Ew."

"Not that."

This time, only Compa found something.

* * *

After hours of searching, we decided to look at a videogame store.

"Hey, Blanc?"

"Yeah?"

"Does Vert play any games?"

"No, why?"

"Well… I think I gots me an idea." Blanc grinned.

"I'm all ears!"

* * *

We bought our gifts and returned home. Sadly, IF and Compa couldn't hang out with us tomorrow since the two of them were busy. That sucks, but whatever.

When Blanc and I got home, we were so tired that we went straight to bed.

* * *

The next morning, I didn't wake up due to my alarm clock. Probably because I didn't set it before going to bed. I woke because of two things: First of all, was the sunlight hitting my eyes. Second of all, there was a warm sensation around my… oh please don't tell me. I looked at my stomach to see an arm. Yep, it's her.

Noire wrapped her arm around me again. I could feel her breath on the nape of my neck and her forehead on the back of my head.

Maybe I should have bought her a stuffed bear or a body pillow to hug, speaking of which what happened to the pudding that I bought her. I craned my neck to see the item that I got her on my desk, sitting happily and puddingly.

I felt Noire shift her head an- OW!

D-Don't tell me. A pinching sensation on my neck, wet, and painful.

"Mmm, pudding~." Is she abou- OW! _Yep! She's biting me._ I threw her arm off me and stood up quickly, somehow releasing me from her bite.

Geez, she bites hard! Ugh, whatever. I'm too tired to deal with this. I'm hungry.

I walked downstairs to see the Nishizawas, minus Blanc and Vert but plus Nepgear and Uni, making a feast.

"Oh, Neptune good morning."

"Hey, Aunty Mina."

"I'm sorry but could you wake up Noire?" I yawned.

"Why?"

"I need her, Uni and Nepgear to get some last minute groceries." I yawned again, stifling it with my hand.

"Sure." I lumbered back upstairs, but before I went into my room, Mina called out to me.

"Neptune, could you also check on Blanc and Vert after that?"

"Yeah, sure." As I entered the room, I saw Noire sleeping peacefully, even after all that. I grabbed her shoulder and shook her lightly. "Hey, Noire. Wake up."

Noire opened her eyes, looking up at me with dreamy eyes.

"Nep...tune." Noire reached out to me and placed her hand on my neck. Okay, that's nice bu- Whoa!

Next thing I knew, I was being hugged again by Noire, this time I was facing her. Despite being half asleep, Noire pressed her nose against mine, giggling.

I'm not in the mood for this.

"NOIRE!" The girl's eyes fluttered open with shock and the girl looked at my eyes. "Mornin'."

She sat up, her face turning red. I sat up and scratched the back of my head.

"N-N-N-Neptune, wh-wh-wh-wh-"

"Noire, Aunty Mina wants you, Nepgear and Uni to get some last minute things, okay?" Noire, still flustered, nodded as I stood up. "Alright, I'm going to check on Blanc and Vert."

"Um…" I turned around to see Noire looking confused. "Why is there a bite mark on the back of your neck?" I placed my hand over the spot where Noire bit me.

"You bit me." I left the room as Noire began to stutter wildly. I entered the dining room to see Mina setting up the dining table. "Aunty, Noire's up." She thanked me as I went to my next objective. Walking to the door, I could hear Noire talking to Mina as I entered the room.

"Hey, Blanc. Vert. I know it's your birthday, but wake u-" Of all the things that I didn't expect, Noire biting me in the neck, people waking up really early and then Noire hugging me out of nowhere, I didn't not expect this.

Blanc was lying still in on the bed, as if she was a doll. Vert had her arms around Blanc as if she was a body pillow, somewhat similar to my situation with Noire.

"Well, what do you know?" Blanc turned her head to look at me, pleading. I backed out of the room, my hand on the doorknob.

"Help." Her voice was quiet, but I could hear her from all the way here. Ah. Sweet sweet revenge. I grinned wide and slowly closed the door.

"Why?" I could hear her from behind the door. Opening the door once more, I peeked into the room to look at Blanc, still staring at the door.

"It's funny."

I closed the door.

* * *

"Happy Birthday, Blanc and Vert!" The two older twins sat on one end of the table while we stood around them, clapping and wearing party hats. After they finished their greetings, they gave gifts to Vert first.

From Noire, clothes.

From Nepgear, a keychain with a black X on it.

From IF, a phone strap.

From Compa, a knitted sweater.

From Rom and Ram, pajamas.

From Uni, hairclips.

From Chika and Mina, earrings.

From me, a video game handheld case.

Upon receiving my gift, Vert looked at me.

"Neptune, I appreciate the thought, but I don't have anything to put in it." I moitioned toward Blanc.

Blanc handed her gift: a gaming handheld. Vert looked at the case, then to Blanc, then to handheld.

"Blanc?" The girl scratched the back of her head, embarrassed.

"Well, since we never got to spend time together. I figured that we could have something that we could do together." Vert began to tear up and wrapped her arms around Blanc. I tapped Vert on the shoulder.

"Hey, don't get all emotional yet. It's Blanc's turn." Now, it was Blanc's turn to receive gifts.

From Nepgear, a bookmark.

From IF, a new phone case.

From Compa, a new hat.

From Rom and Ram, pajamas...again.

From Uni, a book cover.

From Mina and Chika, a ring.

From Vert, a small bookshelf that she could put in the corner of their room.

From Noire, clothes...again.

Finally, I gave Blanc _and_ Vert gifts. They opened it to find two identical co-op games.

"Neptune?"

"Hey, you said that you wanted to get closer to your twin, right? Well, why not start now?" Blanc smiled at me.

"Thanks, buddy." I brofisted her.

"No problem and Happy Birthday." The two of them got to starting their games right away…

They didn't stop until Mina forced them to...which was around the evening.

Eh. They're happy, that's all that matters.


	8. Dreams and Surprises

**Sorry for the long wait (although I think a week isn't long, but still long). I had writer's block for a bit and it took some time to get out of it. Also, games.**

* * *

 _I walked down a road, in my monochrome pajamas. There was nothing around me, just pitch black darkness around me. If I looked around me, the only thing I could see was the road I was walking on. Suddenly, I felt something cold behind me. I turned around and there nothing behind me, just the road that I had apparently traversed already. Although there was nothing, I could tell there was something dangerous behind me._

 _I ran forward, trying to stay away from whatever was chasing me. I don't know what was chasing me and I don't know why. All I know was that I needed something, someone, with me._

" _Someone! Anyone! Help me!" I continued running until my lungs and legs needed a break, grinding to a halt and placing my hands on my knees. I took in the sweet oxygen and let out the horrible carbon dioxide from my lungs. As I continued breathing, I could feel whatever was chasing me getting closer. I slowly turned my head, my body unable to run away what this thing was anymore. I closed my eyes and waited for my death, or worse._

 _Then…_

 _Suddenly, the feeling was gone. I kept my eyes closed, not wanting to see if there anything around me._

 _Now…_

 _There a sound. A small but constant noise. It sort of sounded like… footsteps._

 _I opened my eyes to see that the darkness is gone, and now the area was white. I looked around to see that the road was gone now._

 _The sounds of footsteps seemed to be behind and me. Upon turning around, I could see a figure walking in the distance._

" _A person!" I ran toward the figure as much as I could, ignoring my body's pleas. "SOCIAL ACTIVITY!" As I got closer and closer to the person, I could make out more details of the person._

 _The figure was a young man. He looked about my age. The guy had short purple hair with long locks. He wore a white hooded track jacket with purple accents and white jeans. The young man had his hands in his pockets, from one of his pockets was a wire that crawled up to his ears, where d-pad shaped headphones were in his ears. I couldn't see his eyes since he had his eyes closed, probably due to him wearing both earbuds._

 _Wait, that's…_

" _Neptune!" I speed over to him faster._

 _As I was closer to him, I held out my arms. As I was in reach, I jumped over to him, desperately trying to stop him from walking away. Once my arms were close enough, I wrapped them around his body._

 _Once I had done that, my vision had turned white and the both of us blended into the whiteness that surrounded us…_

* * *

"Ugh…" I opened my eyes. My vision was blurry from just waking up and my thought process was hazy. "A dream?" I rubbed my eyes and realized that one of my arms was on top of something warm... Wha-!

My arm was around Neptune's torso. He was still asleep, a smile on his face. Aw, he looked so cu- No! Never mind! Drop that thought!

I shook my head, my brain onto a different topic. I had moved from my spot while asleep and hugged Neptune…again. Why did I do this again? Ugh, what will Neptune think if he wakes up!?

"Noire?"

I should think of what to say before he wakes up.

"Noire? Hey, Idolindustri to Noire?"

I know! I'll say-

"Hey!?"

Huh?

"Morning." I locked eyes with Neptune...who was awake now. Uh… "*sigh* Why am I not surprised?" Uh… "Um, Noire? Can you let me go now?" Uh… "Noire, your face is red now."

"Uh…"

"Um, this bad isn't it?"

"Noooooooo!" I flailed around, feeling something hit my arm. As I sat up, I heard the sound of something hitting the ground.

" _Nepu!"_ Wait, what was that I just heard?

I looked around the room, panting. Neptune had fallen off the bed, one of his legs hanging on the mattress.

"Neptune?" I heard a groan come from the guy.

"...Why?" His leg fell off the bed and landed with a thump, bring another groan from him. "Ow…" I looked under the bed to see him lying faceup on the floor.

"Are you okay?" Neptune lifted his head and stared at me.

"Let's here: You hug me in your sleep, causing you to stare at me for a second, which then leads into you punching me in the gut, and finally ending with me falling off the bed and giving me a headache. What do you think?" Oh…

"Sorry." Neptune pulled himself up.

"It's fine." He rubbed the back of his head and stood up, stretching. With a sigh, he turned around. " _I should have bought you that body pillow after all."_

"Huh?"

"Nothing, just a thought."

"Speaking of thoughts… I thought I heard you say 'Nep-'" Neptune turned around, glaring.

"You're lonely!" I was surprised by both the random interruption and the statement.

"Wha- That came out of nowhere!"

"So what!?" With those words, Neptune opened the door and went downstairs, hearing loud footfalls as he walked.

"What was with that…" Why did he act that way? Is there something that I- Wait.

"I am not lonely!"

* * *

When I walked downstairs, Neptune was helping Mina make breakfast. Chika helping Mina as well, at the same time, she was staying as close to her wife as possible. Rom and Ram were eating cereal, due to them wanting to eat fast and play early. Uni and Nepgear were waiting for breakfast. Meanwhile, Vert was sitting at the table, playing with her handheld. She was totally immersed in the game too. As I stood there, Blanc walked up beside of me, rubbing her eyes.

"Oh, good morning Blanc."

"Morning." I looked at her. She had bags under her eyes and Blanc let out a big yawn.

"What happened?"

"Vert didn't stop playing, even though I passed out." The two of them looked at Vert, the girl looking as if she had a good night sleep.

Neptune turned around, looking at the two of us.

"Blanc…" He looked at me longer than Blanc. "Noire. Sit down and get ready to eat." Blanc nodded and sat down next to Vert.

"Hey, Neptune." Neptune turned back to the stove.

"What?"

"What did you say when I hit you?" Blanc rubbed her eyes once more and turned to me.

"What are talking about Noire?" As Blanc asked me the question, I saw Neptune stop moving at the corner of her eye.

"Well, he said something like the first part of his name." Blanc blinked, her sleep having been erased.

"Oh that." Neptune stood rigid now.

" _Blanc."_

"When we were kids…"

" _Blanc, what are you doing?"_

"He used to say…"

" _Blanc."_

"'Nepu!' a lot."

" _Stahp!"_

"He would even use in place of adjectives and make the sound when he was hurt or surprised." Pfft. Th-That's...

Rom and Ram were giggling, their hands covering their mouths. Vert had stopped playing her game and had a smirk on her face. Mina shook her head, a smile on her face. Chika bit the bottom of her lip, holding back her laughter.

"Breakfast."

A plate carrying a pile of eggs was placed in the middle of the table. The person who held the plate was Neptune, a frown on his face.

"So, Neptune?" The young man turned to Vert, his eyes empty and dull.

"What."

"Why don't you say that anymore?"

"I'm eighteen, a senior in high school. I'm going to college. I can't act like a child anymore. If I was girl, that would be a different story. However, I'm a guy and I have to _grow up._ " Vert chuckled.

"I think it's cute." Everyone stared at me. I looked left and right, confused. "What?" Neptune sighed and sat down next to me.

"Noire?" I turned to him, his hands covering his face and his ears turning red.

"Don't say that again." Huh?

"Why not?"

"Just… Just don't, please." What's wrong with being cute? I see no problem with it. Neptune didn't say anything other than that and everyone else sat down to eat.

* * *

Once we finished eating, Neptune stood up and put his plates in the sink. He walked over to me and placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Noire." I turned to him and locked eyes with him.

"Yeah."

"You and me. Mall. Get ready." Wha-Wha-Wha-Wha-WHA-!

"WHAT!" I-Is he really asking me to go somewhere with him? Just him? Sorta like a _date!?_

"Mall, we're going over there."

"O-Oh… I see."

"Oh my, Neptune. Are you taking Noire on a date?" Neptune looked at Vert, not amused.

"I just said what we're doing." He then turned to me. "Let's get you something…" He looked away, scratching his cheek. "…for being so nice to me and Nep Jr." I felt my eyes widen.

"Wait, a present!" Neptune nodded. "Y-You don't need to do that!" He shook his head.

"Don't care. We're getting you something." I looked at my lap, folding my hands over them.

"Thank you." Neptune shrugged.

"Whatever. Just get ready." I nodded and Neptune went upstairs. "I call dibs on the shower." A present… just for me… from Neptu- Wait.

"Hey, I want to use the shower!" Neptune stopped and turned toward me, a grin on his face.

"Too bad. Dibs." I stuck my tongue at him as he laughed and continued upstairs. I crossed my arms as I heard the door close.

After a while, I walked upstairs, getting my things ready to take a shower. Neptune had already started as I could hear the water running. As I grabbed my clothes, I heard the shower turn off and the door opening a couple minutes later.

"I'm done." I turned to the door, confused.

"But you were there for only five minutes!"

"For the economy!" I heard the door to my- I mean, our, room and I turned a… a… a… ah…

"Ah…" I couldn't fathom what I was seeing right now, my brain just stopped. The only thing I could feel was my mouthing hanging wide open at the sight in front of me.

"Noire, what's up?" Neptune used his towel to dry his still wet hair, failing to catch a few droplets that rolled down his bare chest.

"Wh-Wh-Wh-" I finally was able to gain control of my eyes and looked away.

"What?" I shook my head, the image not going away.

"Why are you naked!?" Neptune looked down, confused.

From the top up, he was bare. The only thing covering him was the towel wrapped around his neck. Ah! I can't look!

"What? I'm wearing pants." He spread out his arms as if to make himself an example. Gah! His chest, it's toned, but not toned at the same time! Prying my gaze away from him, I turned around.

"Did your parents teach you decency!?"

"No." Huh? I turned around, not expecting that answer. Neptune's confusion had disappeared and now there was a frown there. "Did you forget that my parents have been working for most of my life?" Oh… Uh…

The two of us stood there in silence, awkward silence. I looked down at the ground and shuffled my feet.

"Sorry." I shyly looked up to him and see his eyebrow raised.

"You should just go shower now." I nodded.

"Yeah… I'm going now." Neptune grunted in agreement and watched me gather my things and leave the room.

* * *

Sometime later, I had finished showering and returned to the room. Neptune wasn't inside as I could hear him downstairs. It sounded like he was playing a videogame downstairs. I entered the room and got changed.

I wore jean shorts that was frayed at the end. I also put on a white tank top with a black vest over it. In order to disguise myself from the public, I put on a white wig and blue eye contacts with power symbols on them.

Taking a look in the mirror, I smiled and fist pumped with both of my arms.

"Let's do this!" I turned to the door and was about to open the door when I heard a knock on the door.

"May I come in?" It was Mina's voice. I opened the door and the light blue haired mother walked in, a smile on her face. Huh? Is Chika not around? I looked around. She was snuggling Mina nor was she hiding behind her, ready to hug her.

"Oh, Chika? She's spending time with the children." As she says this, Neptune's laughter becomes louder and louder. Under his laughter, there was something that sounded like Blanc struggling from something. Chika's voice could be heard as well.

"Oh come on Blanc! Give Mommy some love!" Thumps and laughter continued as the two of us listened. Mina scratched her cheek, a little embarrassed.

"Hehe…" The sounds of family interaction is sweet.

"So, are you nervous?" Huh? "You and Neptune are going to the mall. Just the two of you." What is she…? "Just like a…" Mina stopped, leaving her words to hang in the air. Is she… She can't possibly mean a-

"Date?" Wha-! I turned around to see Vert leaning on the doorframe, a soft smile on her face. "I say, Mother, that is most likely Neptune's motive." What!? No! He's getting a present, right?

* * *

" _You and me. Mall. Get ready."_

* * *

No, he was just grateful.

...Right?

* * *

After putting on the finishing touches, I went downstairs along with Mina and Vert. Neptune's laughter had subsided, although we could still hear toned down laughter broken by sharp breathing.

Upon entering the living room, I smiled due to two reasons. The first one because of the sweetness of the scene in front of me. The second reason…

"Mom… let go off me…" Chika had accomplished her mission of loving Blanc as she held the girl in a hug with one arm, and stroking her daughter's hair with the other. Rom and Ram were playing videogames on the T.V. while Neptune was trying to stop his laughter. Blanc, obviously, was the most uncomfortable out of everyone else and it was her discomfort that got Neptune's joy.

Chika shook her head, pulling Blanc closer to her.

"No way! I wanna give my baby girl a hug, so I'm giving her one!" Nepgear giggled at the familial love and Uni looked somewhat embarrassed by this display of affection.

"I'm eighteen now Mom!"

"You're still my baby!" Neptune now chuckled at the Chika and Blanc as his friend gave him a scowl. Now that I was down here, I got a good look of what he was wearing.

Neptune was wearing a blue hoodie with a large brown oval in the front and white cuffs that had a hole on the sides for him to put his thumbs through. The hood was spiky, but he didn't put it on. He wore dark blue jeans, long socks folded over many times and red running shoes with gold laces.

Upon seeing me, Neptune wiped away tears from his eyes and stood up.

"You ready?" I smiled at him nervously, Vert and Mina's prediction in my head.

"Ye-Yeah." He nodded and pulled out his headphones from his hoodie pocket, placing one in his ear. We said goodbye to everyone and left the house. Once we were outside, Neptune turned to me and motioned down the road with his head.

"The mall's two stations from here. Let's go."

* * *

We boarded train and sat down next to each other, with me being next to the window. Neptune crossed one leg over his other one and relaxed on the seat. Now that I think of it…

"Hey, Neptune." He turned his head slightly towards me.

"Hm?" I pointed at the headphone.

"What type of music do you listen to?"

"Video game music." Wait, what? Neptune saw the confused look on my face and repeated his answer. I shook my head.

"No, I didn't need you to say that again. It's just why video game music." Neptune shrugged.

"No reason. I like it." I tentatively reached for the other headphone.

"Can...I listen to it?" Neptune looked at the unused earbud for a bit, before grabbing it and handing it to me. Although he had to lean over a bit in order to hand it to me.

I carefully placed it in my ear, letting the vocalless music reach my ear. Neptune had relaxed against his seat again, closing his eyes. As I looked to the window beside me, I noticed that there were two girls in the glass's reflection.

They were leaning close to each other. From the looks of it, they were whispering and pointing… Wait…

 _Are they pointing at us!?_

 _They are pointing at us!_ _They even had light blushes on their faces, although it was kinda hard to see on the glass._

I felt my face heat up and stared at my lap, clenching my hands together.

Now that I realize it, this is embarrassing!

Train, please hurry up and take us to our destination! _Hurry!_


	9. Present

" _Now arriving at: Virtua Station."_

Welp, that's our stop. I opened my eyes and turned to Noire. She still had my earbud in her ear and was looking at her lap. Her hands were folded over her lap and her ears and cheeks were turning redder that her eyes. Well, not her eyes right now, since she's wearing blue eye contacts, but her real red eyes.

"Noire." She didn't seem to hear me. Hmm…

I reached over to her and slowly pinched my headphone and pulled it away from her ear. She jumped upon the object leaving her head and turned towards me.

"H-Huh?" Jumpy, much?

"You alright?" Noire turned her head away, laughing awkwardly.

"Y-Yeah, I'm good." Alright, really suspicious… Eh. Roll with it.

"Okay then, let's go." I stood from our seat and walked out of the train, Noire following behind. Wait a sec, those two girls are pointing at us. Ugh, gossip. Not healthy.

* * *

The two of us walked out of the train station and we walked towards the mall. Since it's a weekend, there are a lot of people today, I guess that's fin- Ah dammit.

As we walked on, those three bastards that molested Noire and assaulted me saw us in the sidewalk and approached up. The trio's leader, the one who touched Noire and tried to fight me in an argument in that fast food place, narrowed his eyes and tried to look as intimidating as possible. He looked more like an idiot if you ask me.

I stopped walking and glared ahead, Noire bumping into me.

"Wh-What?"

"Noire, stay behind me." Upon seeing the three guys, Noire hid behind me.

"Well, well, well." The leader clapped his hand slowly and mockingly. He had a stupid grin on his face and his two other lackeys stood beside him, acting like a wall of idiots. "Looks like the harem protagonist got himself another girl." Harem protagonist? What is he talking abou- Oh, everyone else. Pfft. He's stupid.

"Hahaha, I don't even know what's funnier. The fact that you thought I had a harem, or how stupid you are!" The leader glared at me and stepped closer, trying to stare me in the eye. Oh, challenge accepted.

…He's not stopping.

…Why won't he stop?

…Go away.

…You're invading my personal space.

…I don't swing that way.

…I need an adult. Oh wait, I'm eighteen. I'm almost an adult. Crap. _I have to be the responsible one._

When he didn't back off, I sighed.

"Seriously, what do you want now?"

The dude stared at Noire, not recognizing her at all. He then pointed to her.

"Her." I rolled my eyes. This guy…

"Dude, seriously?" He narrowed his eyes.

"I am serious." He then laid his eyes on Noire, motioning to her. "Come on girl, let's have some fun." Oh for- He's serious.

Funny thing was that Noire looked disgusted and she backed away. She even shook her head as she made some distance from us. The leader frowned took a step forward, reaching out to Noire.

Oh, no. Not this time.

I stepped in between the idiot and Noire with my arm outstretched. I'm pretty sure I was glaring at him with all my might.

"If you put a hand on her, I'm going to _Nep_ you in the face!"

...Silence.

I looked around, confused. Everyone was looking like I grew a third head or split in two.

What? Is punching someone in the face really that weird? Because I'm sure it's not.

"I'm sorry, what?" The leader idiot shook his head, baffled. I kept my glare on the bastard.

"I said, I'm-" Whoa! I felt someone yank on my arm and pull me away, into the crowds of people. Noire ran ahead, pulling me with all her might. Wait, the mall's that way. Noire?

Aw… She can't hear me.

* * *

Eventually, and I don't know how, she pulled us into the mall. The both of us panting, not because we ran really hard. We didn't run at all and that was cause of all the people around us. Instead, we were tired because of the heat, and because Noire got lost.

"Why…" I wiped my forehead with the handkerchief that I had from my pocket as Noire did from hers. "did you take… so long… to find this… place?" Noire put away her handkerchief.

"I had no idea… where to… go." I cupped my head in my hand.

"You could see it from the station."

"I didn't know that!" Noire thrusted her arms downward and turned around, crossing her arms.

"Noi-" Wait… what was that sound? It sounds like peop- Uh oh.

" _Is that guy fighting with his girlfriend?"_

" _Putting the blame on a cute girl like her, how cruel."_

Oh no. People are talking behind our backs, not good. Not good at all.

"Hey, Noire. We didn't come here to fight, remember?" She's not listening to me, back still turned. Oh, this is not good.

" _Hmph, serves him. Get ignored."_ Ugh, why me? Nevermind that, I need to find a way to get her to listen. What can I do? Is there anything that I can-

*growl*

Uh, that wasn't me. The only other person nearby within hearing distance is N-

"You hungry?" Noire turned around, her cheeks a light pink, obviously embarrassed by her stomach growling. She looked to the side before nodding. Yes! A way out of this awkward situation!

"Can we get something to eat?" I nodded happily at her request. I grabbed her by the wrist, causing her to yelp for some reason, guess she's not used to human con- What am I saying? She hugs me when we sleep!

"Sure, let's go find some place to eat." The two of us walked around, looking for a place to eat. Although, we did do some window shopping while we looked. While we window shopped, I kept a keen eye on Noire, looking to see if anything caught her eye. Unfortunately, nothing came up.

"Maybe I should get her that body pillow after all."

"Huh?"

"Nothing."

After some more searching, Noire pointed out an ice cream shop. Hey, not bad. It's not as great as pudding, but it's still good.

"What flavor do you want?"

"Hmm… chocolate." I nodded and I had Noire wait at a nearby bench while I got in line.

It took a while to get at the counter, because there was a flamboyant man who was taking his time to describe his treat, which embarrassed his wife, who was holding onto her yellow haired child. Wait, how does she have yellow hair? Her mother's hair was greyish white and the father wore a cybernetic helmet…I guess the dad is a blonde. Why do I feel like I now them?

Finally, I got to the counter and a pale skinned girl with green hair and red eyes greeted me.

" _Hello_ , what would you like?" I think she's pissed.

"Hi. I'd like two ice creams."

" _Great!_ What flavors, smart one?" Yeesh. That pretty much confirms it. She's not in a good mood, probably because of her previous customers.

"One vanilla and one chocolate." She sighed in relief.

"Thank you, someone with an idea of what they want. Would you like toppings with that?"

"No thanks. I'm-" Wait, what about Noire? "Uh, sorry gimme a sec." The girl at the register groaned.

"It's fine, whatever." Suddenly, her eyes widened and pointed behind me. "Hey."

"Yeah?"

"Do you know the white haired chick on the bench over there?" Noire?

"Yeah, wh-" Curious, I turned around to look at Noire. Those three bastards from earlier and crowing around her. I don't see what's wrong wit- Oh HELL NO! "Excuse me for a sec."

I dashed toward Noire as fast as possible.

"Yeah. Take your time."

The leader inched closer, grabbing Noire by the arm. From here, I could hear Noire scream as she tried to struggle out of the guy's grip. Ever so slowly, he began to wrap his arm around Noire, who then began to thrash around.

 _I've got to move!_

His hand moved downwards from Noire's shoulder.

 _Faster._

Upon feeling the hand, Noire began to thrash harder and harder.

 _ **Faster.**_

With a grin, the guy was almost at his destination. His two lackeys saw me running towards them and becoming a wall.

" _ **Out of the way!"**_ The two of them attempted to hold me back. What did I just say? MOVE!

I punched the lackey to my left and he staggered back from the hit. I shoulder tackled the other guy, knocking the two of us away from the other guy. I began to pummel the guy I tackled. After a couple of swings, the other guy kicked me off of his buddy and he helped him up as I rolled away.

A scream pierced my ears as I stood up and I immediately knew who it was.

" _Noire!"_ No!

*smack*

Huh?

"Argh!" From behind his lackeys, I could see the leader back away, his face bearing a red handed shape on his cheek. Noire appeared from the other side, tears threatening to run down her face as held herself. The leader put a hand to his face and glared at Noire. He then took threatening steps towards Noire.

I took this chance, since his lackeys were distracted, to grab his buddies by the head and smash them together, knocking them out. The leader reached into his pocket and pulled out a swiss army knife, unsheathing it and aiming at Noire.

"You little-" I grabbed the bastard's armed wrist and began to wrestle him to the ground.

"What did I say!? Keep your hands off her or else!" With my free arm and with the risk of losing control over my opponent's arm, I began to punch the guy in the face. "I. Will. Punch. You. In. The. Face!" I swung my fist with each word, getting a good hit in with each swing. He then pulled his arm away from me and tried to stab me, barely grazing my side and cutting my jacket.

I fell backwards and he grabbed me by the neck and raised his weapon into the air.

"You motherfucker! I'm gonna finish you off once and for al-" A fist swung from the side, hitting the guy in the face and he fell to the ground, not moving an inch. Slowly, I poked him with the tip of my foot. Geez, he's out cold.

"Hmph, he deserved it." I turned to my savior. Noire crossed her arms and used one of her hands to move her hand through her hair. The tears from her face were dried now.

"Noire." I stood up and looked her over. She was fine, although her clothes were ruffled from her the bastard was touching her. "Are you okay?" She frowned at me.

"Am I okay? I came here, expecting a present…" She turned away, mumbling something to herself. "And instead, we get lost, get in an argument and I get molested while you almost die!" After she finished yelling, Noire began panting. She blinked her eyes, her tears beginning to reform again. She closed her eyes shut and ran up to me, hugging me in the stomach.

"Noire?" I felt my shirt becoming wet and Noire beginning to sniffle loudly.

"I-I wasn't scared!" I spread my arms, unsure of what to do. Just barely, I could hear more people whispering to each other.

" _Did you see that?"_

" _Yeah, that guy fought to save his girlfriend."_

" _How sweet!"_

She's not my girlfriend, but at least it's better that what I heard a while ago.

"Hey, Noire?" As she looked up, I pulled out my handkerchief and wiped away her tears. I motioned toward the ice cream. "I don't know if this is a good time, but do you still want some ice cream?" Noire made a small smile on her face and nudged me in the shoulder.

"Idiot, it's not a good time, but yeah. I'd like some." I wrapped my arm around Noire and walked over to the ice cream shop. As we moved back in line, the people ahead of us stepped aside. The cashier beckoned over to us.

"Hey, you two lovebirds." I felt Noire fidget upon hearing that. "Get over here." I looked around and the people around us gave us their approval. Upon reaching her, the cashier had two ice creams ready, one vanilla and one chocolate. "Here." She handed us the frozen treats. Wait…

"But we haven't paid yet!" She made a dismissing noise and waved her hand absentmindedly.

"On the house. By the way, no toppings included." Oh, well then.

"Thanks." Noire and I happily take our treats and begin walking around the mall once again.

… I still think pudding is better.

* * *

We walked around the mall, still window shopping. Once again, I kept a sharp eye on Noire. Although, I think that she noticed this time as we made eye contact often, leading to the both of us looking away awkwardly.

*sigh*

Getting a gift for a person is harder than I thought.

"Hey Noire,"

"Hm?" The both of us were looking at accessories in a clothing store.

"Remember how I said I wanted to get you a gift."

"Yeah." She picked up a white and red hat that would have made her regular eyes look dazzling.

"Do you, I don't know, want something?" Noire shook her head.

"I did at first." She placed the hat back down on the shelf and turned to me, smiling. "Then all lot of things happened, but you stood by me." She clasped her hands together, tilting her head downwards. "I… I'm really happy that we went here today." Noire looked up, her eyes bright and her smile brighter. "Thank you."

Uh…

I… I don't know what to say.

"Neptune?" Noire had moved closer to me, curiosity in her eyes. Geh! Noire! No! Back off.

I turned around, my face heating up and heart beating fast.

"Ye-Yeah?"

"Are you okay?" I turned around, waving my hands.

"Of- Of course! Wh-Why wou-"

 ***Raise your sharpened claws. In order to shine, now bare your fangs. You can't overcome this ordeal. You don't attack humans.***

Huh? That's my phone. Yes! A distraction! I grabbed my phone and opened it. The caller id revealed that it was my mom calling.

"Oh, it's Mom. Sorry, gimme a sec Noire."

"Sure." Noire smiled as she began to look at more things. I walked out of the store and answered the call.

"Hello?" Obviously, it was my mom, but saying hello was out of courtesy.

"Hi, son. How are you doing?"

"Just out of the house. Going shopping." Upon hearing this, Mom sounded surprised.

"Wow. I expected you to stay home and do nothing." Well, she's not wrong. "Or…" I don't the tone of her voice. "Are you on a _date_?" Wha-?

" _Mom, no!_ " Oh crap. My face is getting red again. "Whywouldyouevensaysomethinglikethat." I took a deep breath. "YouknowI'ddon'tknowsomeoneenoughtogoonadatewithsomeone!"

"What about Iffy or Compa? I know you see Blanc as a sister, so…" I have a feeling like she could hear me panting cause I hear my mom holding back her laughter.

" _Mom!_ " Now I think the people around me and looking at me now and now I can could hear my mother laughing clearly now.

"Kidding, I'm kidding!" My mother's laughter was now beginning to subside, but she still had some fits for a while. "Anyways, I have another job for you."

"Dancing?"

"Yup, you catch on quick. There's one thing that your mother doesn't have… Fortunately." What?

"What are you talking about, Mom?"

"Nothing." Mom changed the subject really quickly and started talking about my job. I had to do my regular thing, watching an idol dance and individualize their moves, only that it's with another idol. Another popular idol that's under my parent's management, 5pb.

5pb is her stage name, her real name is Lyrica. I met her once. She screamed at the top of her lungs and ran away. My ears hurt from that experience and I almost got arrested because they thought I was molester. Ugh, that was a bad day. Alright, enough reminiscing.

"Is that everything Mom?"

"That's everything."

"Alright take care Mom. Tell Mother I said hi."

"Okay. Well, have fun on your date~." _Mom!_

"Wait, a sec-" Dammit, she hung up.

*sigh*

Well, I better check on Noire.

* * *

She still at the same place, picking up hats and accessories. As I walked closer to her, I noticed that she would pick up the hat that looked good on her from earlier, but she would put it back down, looking at it longingly before tearing her eyes away.

Hmm…

"I'm back." Noire turned to me.

"Hey."

"Is there anything you want?" She looked at the hat, then pretended to look around. Clever.

"No thanks. Just today was fine." She shook her head, her hair swinging from side to side. I sighed and led her to the door. And now here we go…

"Oh hey, I thought I saw something for Nepgear over there. I'm gonna get it for her."

"Okay then, I'll go with you." No! A hitch in the plan!

"Uh, no! Ju-Just stay here." Noire raised an eyebrow.

"Do you not remember what happen earlier?" ...Crap she's got a point.

"Uh…" There's only one thing left to do!

I pointed in a random direction, feinting a surprised look.

"Hey, what's that!"

"Huh?" She turned around. Yes! Now to make my getaway! Gotta tiptoe slowly…

Slowly…

Almost out of sight…

"I don't see anythin- Wh- Hey!"

...So close.

* * *

We walked out of the store, Nepgear's gift in hand. Noire skipped ahead, humming happily. The reason for her sudden happiness was in her hand.

"Thanks, Neptune!"

"No problem." Although, I did wish to surprise you with it later. Noire took the hat out and looked at it happily, then after a second looked at me. When we looked eyes, she gave a bright smile.

Huh. I guess this isn't bad either.

* * *

On our way home, the train had to stop due to problems, so we had walk a station. That sucked. When we got home it was already dinnertime.

"Ugh, I'm hungry." Tell me about it. Upon opening the door, Vert greeted us.

"Welcome home you two! Dinner's ready!" Sweet.

"What's over there!" Vert made a smile.

"Sauteed eggplants!" I stopped in my tracks, dropping Nepgear's present onto the floor.

Nope.

No.

NO.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

"Wha-Neptune!? Where are you going!?" Vert was about to chase me upstairs, when I hear Blanc.

"I told you he wouldn't eat it. When we were kids, Neptune got food poisoning from an eggplant. He's been afraid of the stuff ever since."

I ran into my room, slammed the door and locked it.

I didn't leave until was over, to say the least.

* * *

 **I might as well say this now, but I have a poll on my profile. This poll will choose whether I work on this or my other fanfic over the school year. The poll will end around the first week of August.**


	10. Revelation

"Sauteed eggplants!" Upon hearing what everyone made for dinner, Neptune dropped Nepgear's present. His face turning pale. Huh? Is he all right?

Neptune twitched.

"No…" He stepped backwards, shaking his head. Neptune even began trembling as he moved away from Vert.

"NO." Neptune spun and ran upstairs.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

"Wha-Neptune!? Where are you going!?" Vert was about to chase him upstairs when Blanc appeared from the doorway, sighing.

"I told you you he wouldn't eat it." What?

"Why wouldn't he eat eggplants?" Blanc shook her head and put her hand in her head.

"When we were kids, Neptune got food poisoning from an eggplant. He's been afraid of the stuff ever since." ...Wow. I never would have expected. This is news to me.

As we talked about this, Neptune's footsteps grew fainter and fainter. Soon after that, we heard the door slam.

"What's going on?" The three of us turned to Nepgear walking in, confused.

We explained to Nepgear about what happened.

"Goodness! I heard from Ms. Nishizawa that Neptune is afraid of eggplants, but I never thought that he would react like this." She used her finger to scratch her temple. "Because of that, we made eggs and sausage for him instead." Her eyes turned towards the ground. What is she… Oh. She's looking at the bag.

"What's that?" I picked up the bag and handed it to her.

"It's a present, from Neptune." Upon hearing this, the girl's eyes shined and took the bag from me, hugging it tightly.

"I'm going to go thank him!" She hopped upstairs and I followed her.

"I'll go too." I need to change my clothes and put this hat away.

When we got to the room that Neptune and I shared, Nepgear knocked on the door.

"Neptune? Let's go eat." We could hear Neptune move from the sounds of objects falling over. "Neptune?"

"NO! I'm not eating eggplants EVER AGAIN!" She looked towards me, concerned. "We made something else for you to eat."

"You probably put eggplants in them!" Nepgear sighed and I tapped her in the shoulder. She stepped aside and I walked over to the. I knocked on the door.

"Neptune? Can you open the door?"

"No!"

"Come on, open the door. Please?"

" _No!"_ I gritted my teeth. Now he's just being stubborn. Alright, time give him something he can't say no to.

" _ **I need to change!"**_ After I said that, I could see Nepgear sweatdrop from the corner of my eye. There was silence from the other side of the door.

"...Oh." There were more sounds from objects shuffling and Neptune's footsteps moving closer. We could hear the door unlock and the door opened slightly, Neptune's purple eye peeking out of the opening.

…

…

Why is he just staring at me?

"Are you going to get out and let me change?" Neptune's eye blinked.

"No." I put my hand on my hip and narrowed my eyes. Really? This guy… "I'll let you in, but I'm not going out." What.

No one talked for a minute. My mouth hanging wide open and my eye twitching.

Nepgear put a hand on my shoulder and asked me to step aside. The girl looked at her brother, her eyes shining.

"Neptune, thanks for the gift." The boy blinked his eyes, confused.

"What are you talking abo-" Even though I was behind Nepgear, I could see Neptune's eye widen. "Oh, crap."

Neptune opened the door and stepped out, patting Nepgear on the head.

"Your welcome, Nep. Jr."

"Are you still gonna eat?" At that exact moment, Neptune's stomach growled and the both of us looked at him.

"...When the eggplants are gone." Nepgear sighs.

"Alright, that's a good enough answer." She nodded to me and turned towards the stairs. "Neptune, we'll save some food for you. Noire, we'll wait for you to come downstairs."

"Okay. I'll see you there." I turned to Neptune and he stepped aside, holding the door.

"Are you going to wait outside?" Neptune shook his head and walked inside.

*sigh* One minute he's all nice and kind. The next, he's as stubborn as a rock.

I followed Neptune inside. Neptune plopped himself in front of his computer while I grabbed my clothes, facing away from him.

I heard him sigh and I began to undr- Wait! He's still here!

"Neptune if you peek, I'm going t-" I turned around to see Neptune with his headset on his ears and plugged into the computer. Is he… He's not even paying attention! I walked over to Neptune and looked at him. He was completely immersed in what he was doing.

Neptune was watching videos on Ourlynder, a very popular website where people posted videos of various things. He seemed to be watching gameplay videos of JTV XII. The player characters in the video were either stealing things from the military or blowing each other up.

"Geez, at least you won't be able to hear me." No response. Phew.

* * *

I finished changing and turned to Neptune. Luckily, he was still immersed in watching videos. This time he was watching a different video. He was watching this game where a spherical character built his world with spheres and such.

As the two of us watched the video, the door opened. Since Neptune didn't notice the door opening, I looked to see Chika leaning against the door, an envelope in her hand.

"Hey, you two." A grin was plastered on her face, her eyes twinkling. "Having fun?"

"Huh?" What does that even mean?

Chika sighed and walked over to us.

"Nevermind." She went to Neptune and tapped him on the shoulder. He grunted and didn't turn to Chika. "Hey." He didn't respond this time. Chika raised the envelope and smacked Neptune over the head with the envelope.

Neptune darted downwards upon feeling the hit and whipped his head around to look at Chika, a frown on his face.

"What do you…" He look at the object in her hands. Upon seeing the letter, Neptune sighed. "Mom?"

"Mom." What? What are they talking about?

Neptune sighed, took the envelope and opened it. Before taking out what was inside, he looked at me and turned to face me.

"What? Aren't you hungry?"

"Huh? Uh, yeah." He raised one of his eyebrows.

"Then eat, woman." He turned away and began taking out what was inside the envelope. Before I could stick around to look at it, Chika grabbed me by the back of my collar and pulled me along with her.

"Come on, Noire. If the guy doesn't want to eat, then we'll eat all of his food." A loud protest came from the open door as Chika chuckled.

Now, I'm curious.

I looked at the married woman in front of me. She was humming, probably expecting her wife's cooking.

"Um, Chika?" Upon getting off the last step, Chika spun around, a smile on her face.

"Yeeeees?" I touched both of my index fingers together and looked back at Neptune's room.

"Do you know what's in the letter?" Chika's eyes widened but then her face immediately turned into a playful smirk.

"Probably a letter from his girlfriend." I nearly slipped of the stairs and caught myself by the railing.

"Wh-Wh-What are y-" Wait a second.

"You said that it was from his mom!" Her smirk got even larger.

"Maybe his girlfriend works under his mother and his mom acts as a form of communication." She leaned close. "Maybe she already has his parents' approval." Before I reacted, I got off the staircase and then glared at her while I tried to keep my face from heating up.

"He doesn't have a girlfriend! He hasn't ever talked about one!" Now her grin was getting larger and larger.

…Stop that!

"Oh? Even if he hasn't talked about one, that doesn't rule out the fact that could _have_ one." Oh stop smiling! It's not even funny! "You know… for someone who just met the guy, you're pretty jealous." …

…

…

…

"WHAT!?" I covered my mouth immediately and looked around. Somehow, no one heard me. Thank goodness. I narrowed my eyes and stared at the woman. Chika was having a laughing fit and was trying to calm herself down to no avail.

From behind Chika, I could see Mina standing behind her. She was smiling but… It was the most frightening smile I've ever seen in my life.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Chika stopped laughing and looked at me, confused.

" _Chika…."_ The woman froze and turned around slowly. Upon making eye contact with her wife, Chika made a tiny yelp and took a step backwards.

"H-Hi, Mina." Mina grabbed her wife by the ear and dragged her into the dining room.

"Dinner. Now." I could hear Chika trying to dissuade her wife, but nothing could changer wife's mind. Blanc's head popped out of the door and looked at me, Rom and Ram's heads popping out too.

"Noire, you should eat before it gets worse." Ram nodded her head vigorously.

"Yeah! Eat!" Rom nodded her head, slightly.

"Eat…" Mina's voice came from inside.

"Girls! We're going to need now!"

"Kay!"

* * *

Man, I'm stuffed…

Mina's cooking is so delicious. It's no wonder that I ate so much. I wish I could cook as well as her… I mean, I can cook! Sort of…

Well, Mina had Chika eat all of the eggplants before letting her eat anything else. So I might as well tell Neptune to get something to eat.

I walked up the stairs and noticed that the door was still open a little bit. As I moved closer to the door, I could see Neptune on his computer.

He was typing really fast with one hand, and a small notepad in the other. Neptune would occasionally look at the notepad and then turn back to typing on his keyboard. Soon enough, Neptune closed his notepad and placed it and the envelope, which was folded in half now, inside his desk. Neptune clicked a few times with his mouse and leaned back against his chair, stretching and sounding like he made a large accomplishment.

…Curious. I opened the door as Neptune removed his headphones.

"Neptune?" He turned to me, a satisfied smile on his face.  
"Are the eggplants gone?" If I hadn't learned from Blanc about his fear of eggplants, I wouldn't have taken his question seriously.

"Yeah, Mina had Chika eat them all." Neptune shut down his computer and hopped to his feet. I let my eyes dart to the desk, peaking my curiosity.

"Awesome!" He trotted downstairs after closing the door. "Hey! I want food… and I want pudding as a dessert!" I stared at the door…

Then at the drawer…

Then at the door…

At the drawer…

The door…

Drawer…

…

 _ **I have to find out!**_

I listened closely and I could hear Neptune downstairs, apparently he was complaining about the amount of food he received. Good, he's not around. I swiftly walked over to the drawer and placed my hand on it.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THERE'S NO PUDDING!" Eep! That surprised me… "ARGH! _I JUST BOUGHT SOME! WHY!?_ " ...Oops, that might have been my fault. I should buy him some when I can. Sorry, Neptune.

My grip tightened around the handle. I gulped and took a deep breath. I'm also sorry for this!

"Ei!" I pulled open the drawer and closed my eyes. Slowly, I opened my eyes. On the top of the drawer was the envelope. "The letter…"

I looked at the door. Nothing so far.

I picked up the letter and unfolded it. I could feel a small rectangular bump from inside the envelope. I opened the letter and looked inside. There was no paper with writing inside, but inside was a small chip.

"An SD card?" Phew, so it's not a letter, good. As I placed the SD card back and refolded the envelope, I noticed the notepad. The notepad was nothing special, just a purple cover with a 'N' in the middle of it. But…

"I'm curious!" I grabbed the notepad and opened it, dropping the envelope and SD card in it's place.

I wasn't expecting what I would see in the notepad. I was expecting notes, yes. But I was expecting notes for video games, music lists, anything but this…

I flipped through the pages and with each page I flipped through, I was more and more shocked. These names… How does Neptune even know these names? He couldn't even remember my name, more or less these!

I flipped a few more pages and got to some familiar names.

"Nepgear… Uni… Rom… Ram… Vert… even me!?" I stared at me page the longest, stocking my thumb through it… He did get my name… Although it was for something like this… I flipped to the next page. It was a name I've seen often, since she works for Miss Arfoire and Miss Histoire. Oh, that's the last page.

I flipped back to the earlier pages of us, those notes looked familiar. Wait a sec! They sound exactly the same as the directions from our mystery choreographer from our practice collaboration between the Candidates and the CPUs!

I looked back at the envelope and flipped back to the last page. If my hunch is right…

I picked up the envelope and took out the SD card, went over to my laptop and booted it up. I plugged the SD card in and opened it.

There was only one file in it. A video.

"5pb: Pratice One." I clicked on it and the video player opened up. The beginning shot was black and the video was ready to be played.

My mouse scrolled over the play button.

I looked at the door one last time.

Nothing. I stared at the video one last time. I've this far, I can't back down now!

"Well, here goes nothing!"

I hit play.


	11. Changes

It has been a week since my outing with Noire, and it's been almost half a month since Nep Jr. and the others stayed home.

Yet…

It hasn't been that long, hasn't it?

In fact… It feels… almost natural. Like…

I've been doing this for most of my life.

Not that I'm complaining. I really am enjoying my life in this crowded abode.

Blanc reading a book on the couch…

Vert playing video games next to her…

Chika staying close to Mina and Mina trying to deal with her…

Rom and Ram doing whatever they do, from games to… games…

Uni and Nepgear either on the their phones or just talking next to each other.

They're really close. In fact, I rarely seem them apart. Huh… I think I might've lost my sibling position to Uni…

On the other hand, I'm pretty sure that Nepgear whispering into Uni's ears, which in turn causes her to blush a bright red and then ending with Uni yelling… something at her. Seriously, whenever this happens, Uni speaks so fast that I can't even comprehend what she's saying. Also, whenever Uni reacts, Nep Jr. giggles. And I don't mean giggle, as in laughing, but a different giggle. I have no idea what that giggle is, but it's strange. I've never heard Nepgear make that sound, not even around our parents. Well, whenever our entire family is together, anyways.

But that's another thing.

And finally…

Noire.

After our shopping trip, she's worn that hat so happily. However, she's tries to not look at me in the eye. When we do make eye contact, she would stare at me for the longest time with a blank look and then she would glare at me for a second and then turn away.

It's confusing, but at the same time… it hurts.

I never thought that I see would hate me. I don't think I did anything wrong.

…

Did I?

Also, Noire didn't hug me anymore at night.

Well…

There's a good reason for that.

Sometime between the time we bought the hat and now, the Nishizawas' residence had finished renovating. Funny, it didn't take long. Yet, the Jinguujis' haven't been able to move into their house. Weird. Come to think of it, I never asked Ms. Jinguuji where she's staying. I'll ask later.

* * *

On the night they were allowed to move back in, they took the chance immediately.

They packed their bags and were standing at the front door. Mina and Chika were standing at the door, waiting for everyone to say goodbye. Actually, more like good night, since they were just moving next door. But that's beside the point.

Rom and Ram were standing next to their parents. Ram was pouting and repeating the phrase "Boo! This stinks." while Rom was nodding sadly. I guess they really liked this lifestyle. I can't blame them. They spend a long time traveling, barely able to spend time with their parents and one of their older sisters. Also, I guess they also wanted to be with Nep Jr. and Uni.

Vert was wiping her eyes with a napkin while giving Noire some advice that I could not catch. I think it was for the future, as Noire was nodding her head, although she would blush and flinch from time to time. Vert would chuckle from her reactions.

Uni and Nepgear were trying to convince Rom and Ram that they could still play together and be friends. That part was fine. The hard part was to get them to understand that they were moving next door and that they wouldn't have to take "Three million hours" to get here. Quoted by Ram.

I stood by the side. Glaring hard at the ground.

Why wouldn't I?

I finally had something close to a family.

Well, more like three families stuffed into one house.

But we were a family.

And now…

Our house was basically halved now, maybe even more.

"Neptune." I moved aside to see Blanc standing beside me, book open in her hands.

"What?" She flipped a page. After looking at the page and seeing that it was a new chapter, she folded a corner and closed the book. Turning to me, she smiled.

"See you tomorrow." Heh. Of course…

"Thanks," I patted Blanc on the head. A small smile, a sad one, was forming on my mouth. "Blanc." I raised a hand.

"Good night, buddy." Blanc high-fived me.

"Yeah. Good night."

* * *

And that's what happened. Because of the Nishizawas' moving, Noire and Uni got their rooms back. Noire's absence of hugging at night and odd behavior wouldn't have bothered me. It was kinda nice not to wake up with someone basically tying you to the bed with her arms, but at the same time… it didn't feel right.

Although, there's something strange happening at night:

Sometimes, when I have to use the bathroom at night, I would hear sounds coming from Nepgear's room and it sounded like Uni was in there. I wouldn't be so concerned about it since Nep Jr.'s room is far enough from my room for me to not hear it in my room.

But… they didn't sound like friendly noises, nor did they sound like arguing noises. They were soft and somewhat… desiring. I have no idea what's going on, nor can I care right now.

But…

With the absence of a Noire and along with the Nishizawas' move. I felt…

Empty.

I felt lonely.

It was like…

I was going back to the way that I used to be.

Speaking of my life…

I forgot to mention one thing: The reason why I haven't done anything was because all my attention was on another problem I have right now…

And that was that college entrance exams were right around the corner.

...Yeah.

Which means…

Over the next few days, I was studying my butt off with Blanc, IF and Compa, leaving the house duties to the other three. Currently, I was coming down to get lunch for the rest of the study group.

"Sorry…" I yawned as Nepgear handed me the tray that held everyone's food. I tried to rub the sleepiness out of my eyes. I hadn't gotten any decent sleep as I tried to learn as much as I could. I heard from the seniors from last year that their exams were tough and since I'm guessing that this year's will be as hard, or even harder. I have to go all out.

"It's okay, Neptune. You just work hard." Thank whoever is divine that I have such an understanding little sister… even though we barely spend time together.

"Yeah…" I turned, the tray in my hands wobbling. "...Time to work." I walked up the stairs, nearly dropping the thing.

As I walked inside my room, I met my fellow soldiers in the battle of college.

IF had bags under her eyes, frowning as she had to give up her phones in order to prepare for college. Yes, plural. Not singular. I'm not going into detail. I'm too tired.

Compa was nodding off, her eyes fluttering and her head bobbing up and down. Blanc had to shake her roughly to wake her up.

Blanc… well, I think she has the worst of it. From what I heard, she had to stay awake keeping her twin sister happy playing video games, along with the body pillow thing she's caught up in. Also, the younger twins. I don't have to say much about them, obviously. Two younger twin sisters who have as much energy as puppies. Human puppies, but puppies nonetheless. She was glaring at her books, her pencil clutched in her hand. That was her third pencil, she broke the other two out of sheer frustration.

"Guys…" Everyone turned, either tired or annoyed. "...Food." There were tired cheers of joy as I nearly dropped the tray onto the table. As I did so, I nearly dropped onto the table.

"Nep-Nep…" I turned my head to Compa because I was too tired to lift my head. The girl let out a huge yawn, covering her mouth. "I think we should stop for now."

"Good idea." IF stood up, closing her books. Blanc and Compa packed up too.

...Compa, you're a genius.

I forced myself up from the table and collapsed onto the bed. Ugh, my head hurts and… why does everything feel so cold?

Meh, I don't care...so tired.

"Bye, Nep."

"Later, Neptune."

"*yawn* Bye bye, Nep-Nep."

…

"B...ye…"

Sleep…

Never felt so…

Good.

…

* * *

 _When I opened my eyes, I was lying down on a grassy hill while facing the sunset. Although I couldn't see her, I knew that a girl was lying next to me. I don't know how, but I felt that as long as I was with her, my life was complete._

 _Maybe… that's what I need._

 _When I tried to look at her, I felt a small tremor, causing me to sit up. Now all I could see her body._

 _She wore a dress that was a cross between a maid's and a princess's dress that had a lot of gold trims and frills on it. There was a cutout that revealed the upper portion of her chest and her bare shoulders. It was alluring, but I don't want to look for too long or else she'd catch me… Anyways, she also wore detached sleeves that were actually long fingerless gloves that had large gems on the back of her hands. Finally, she wore extra long boots that stopped at her thighs…_

 _Geh! Another bad spot to look at! Look at something else! Look at something else! Look at something else before sh-!_

 _*giggle*_

 _Notices... Damn it._

 _She sat up leaned close to me. Yet, for some reason, I couldn't see her face. The damn sun was making a shadow over face… Wait. It's a sunset! Can that even happen!?_

" _You terrible at taking peeks." She poked in cheek as she said this. Ah, stop it. Stop it…._

 _Sthap!_

 _GAH! I bit my tongue!_

 _As I tried to soothe the pain, I heard her giggle once more._

" _Hey, it's not that funny." She shook her head, her long black hair cascading down her shoulders._

" _It's not that, it's just… being around you makes me so happy." ...My heart. I think it just stopped._

" _Heh… me too." I saw her smile, but I couldn't see her eyes. Dammit, I wanna see them!_

" _Anyways, aren't you going to be sad?" Huh? "I mean, I'm going away for a long time." Oh… right._

" _Yeah… it's going to be a bit lonely without you." She put a sad smile.  
_ " _Don't be so sad, the others are still going to be here." I sighed._

" _Yeah…" I felt her head on my shoulder and I slowly turned towards her. I couldn't see her eyes, her smile, everything._

 _They were red. A blood red, but still attracting either way. They look… exactly like…_

 _Come to think of it…_

 _That dress…_

 _I've seen it before, haven't I? ...No, it can't be her._

 _Suddenly, I felt pressure on my hand and warmth wrap around it. Oh, she's holding my hand…_

 _I look at her face one more time, this time taking in her features as much as I can before she had to leave._

 _...It… It is her._

 _Her eyes were beginning to water and her smile turned into a frown._

" _Good-bye…" What? But I'm still here! What are you… WHOA!_

 _I looked around as the sunset, the hill, even her, faded into white, leaving me behind. As she disappeared, I reached out for her, attempting to keep her with me and holding her tight. However, my arms passed through and I fell. When I landed onto the ground, everything was gone._

" _Why…?" I got on my knees and looked around. The whiteness that took everything was gone, leaving me in an empty black void._

" _It's not fair…" It's not right. "I didn't… get to say goodbye…" Nor, did I get to say her name once, and when I finally realized who she was too._

 _As I sat there, whatever I saw on began to shake. I got to my feet, and the tremors got worse. But then, they suddenly stopped._

 _That was… weird. Hey… does it feel like something's pulling me? But, there's nothing except for… Oh._

 _I looked do- OH MY GOD!_

 _The darkness had begun to ripple were my feet were, and slowly drag me in. I didn't even notice for a second and my knees were already underneath._

" _Gotta struggle!" Fight it! Fight it!_ _**Fight it! FI-**_ _It's not working. In fact, the harder I struggled the faster I sunk. How do I know this? Let's see here, I struggled for about a couple seconds and now I'm elbow deep._

 _Great._

 _Wait…_

 _WHAT IS THAT!?_

 _The ripples from around me rose into the air and floated above me. Oh, no. I hope they don't do what I think they''re do- Oh no they're doing it!_

 _The risen ripples collapsed over me, wrapping over me. Only parts of my eyes and my head were visible now._

" _No! NO!"_

 _I haven't said goodbye yet! I haven't even seen her leave!_

 _Just let me see her!_

 _Please!_

 _My internal pleas were meaningless as I dragged deeper and deeper under the black void._

 _No…_

 _I didn't even…_

 _Say her name…_

 _To her at all…_

* * *

"Noire…"

"Huh? Neptune, what's wrong?"

...What? My eyes closed, but I could feel something around my hand.

I opened my eyes to see my ceiling again. Phew, never thought I would be glad to see that again. Wait, why is it the afternoon and not morning? I sat up, only to feel something cold and wet fall off my bed and onto my blanket. Huh, is that a wet towel?

I touched my forehead. Yep, it's wet.

"What happened?" Noire looked over me concerned.

"This morning, Uni came to check up on you since you didn't come down for breakfast and when she found you lying facedown on with a high fever." Oh. That happened.

"What about school?"

"Nepgear called in sick for you." Ah, good ol- not old- Nep Jr. "While you were resting, the three of us took turns taking care of you. Also, Mina came by with some rice porridge

"Thanks." Noire nodded… Uh… Why is she not moving? Come to think of it, my hand is oddly warmer than the rest of my body. Considering that I just had or am still having- gimme a sec… Nope I'm better- a fever, I'm pretty sure that my hand shouldn't be warm at al…

Why is Noire holding my hand?

"Oh, are you talking about this?" Noire released her grip and used the hand that held mine to cup her cheek, her face dusted red.

Oh no. Did I just give her my fever? I hope not.

"While you were asleep, you began to talk in your sleep…" Noire looked away. "And then you grabbed my hand and wouldn't let go." Oh… that's embarrassing. "So…" Hmm? "Why did you call out my name?" Although it was hard to see, I could see that Noire was biting her lip while she fidgeting.

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

Uh…

…

…

…

"Neptune?"

"NEPU!" Gah! I grabbed my chest as Noire stepped back surprised. "Oh… sorry." Heart… beating so fast. I don't even… know why.

"A-Are you okay?"

"Yeah…" You could say that.

I gotta distract her.

Distract her…

 _Distract her…_

 _ **Dis-**_

*growl*

…

I'm hungry… Perfect!

"Noire…" The girl looked at me. "You said Aunty Mina brought some rice porridge, right?" She nodded. "Could you bring me some?"

Noire snapped out of her surprise.

"Yeah, of course! I'll go warm some up for you." She turned and left the room, a look of relief on her face. Wait… now that I think of it… wasn't she avoiding me?

Yeah, she was, but now she's taking care of me. I would be confused, if not for the fact that I was sick.

Huh, what's wrong with her? I don't get people sometimes.

* * *

Noire came back with a big hearty bowl of the soup, the steaming rising out of the bowl and into the air. Uni came alongside her with the small tray that you could put on beds. Upon helping me set up the table-tray, Noire sat down on the chair next to my bed- which I didn't even know that was there- while Uni politely let herself leave.

"Thanks for the food!" I grabbed the spoon beside the bowl and dipped it in. Pulling out the spoon from the mush, I put the spoon out of my mouth and… HOT! HOT!

"Ah! Ah! AH-!" I closed my mouth and tearfully swallowed the mouthful. Argh! Now I remember why you blow on soups! As I recovered from my stupidity, I could hear Noire muffling laughter.

"...Wh-What?" Was all I could muster after swallowing. I narrowed my eyes as Noire waved her hand.

"I'm… I'm sorry. It's just that was funny." She wiped away a small tear from her eyes.

*sigh*

"Yeah, yeah…" I attempted to blow on my spoon before taking another mouthful. Agh! Still too hot.

"Here, let me help." Noire took a deep breath and blew at the bowl with one long breath.

Uh…

"...Thanks." That was… a thing.

I looked at the bowl and there was less steam coming out of the bowl now… Okay, how'd she do that?

"How'd you do that?" Noire puffed out her chest and thumped it with her fist, a smirk on her face.

"You get a lot of practice from breathing exercises from singing… that and also from ways to stop yourself from being nervous."

"Oh yeah, that idol stuff." I guess that makes sense. Noire looked around, as if she was thinking about something.

"Speaking of idols…" Noire seemed nervous now and began to do some deep breathing. Well, looks like that practice is paying off… for what reason is she nervous? Now this is strange.

Noire pressed her index fingers together and attempted to not make eye contact by looking side to side.

"What do you think of their dances?" Dance? I guess she's asking seriously. I better answer her seriously then.

"Well, I believe that a person should be able to dance by expressing their own individuality while staying comfortable with their steps." Noire blinked.

"Oh, then what about your sisters' group?" Pfft, that's easy.

"For Nep Jr., she can do anything. However, she might need to practice from time to time in order to not lose sharpness. For Uni, she shouldn't do any strong hip movements, it doesn't look like something she wants to do anyways. For Rom, she should stay away from anything that's energetic or powerful. It doesn't look good on her. For Ram, the exact opposite. Why do you ask?" Noire stared at me, dumbfounded.

What? What's wrong with-

" _ **AHA!"**_ Whoa! Noire stood up and pointed at me, nearly causing me to drop my food.

"Wh-What?" What does she mean?

"You're the choreographer! The Candidates' choreographer!" ...What!?

"Wh-What are you talking about?" Just gotta play it off and change the top-

"No one would be able to say something so professionally with such detail!" …Crap.

"Well?" Noire crossed her arms and stared at me. "Why? Why did you hide yourself from everyone?"

I stared at the bowl, the soup starting to get cold.

…

Why did I hide myself?

"That's simple."

"Huh?"

"Why would someone like me, a person shadowed by his parents _and_ his sister, hide his face from the world?" I moved my bowl to side and sat dropped my legs over the side of the bed. I looked at Noire, narrowing my eyes at her. "My family is always away from the house for months at a time- years even!" I stood up and spread out my arms. "Why would I want to leave my home and abandon everything for a long time!" I put my hands on my sides, leaning closer to her. "And I don't want to abandon my family!" Noire stepped back, surprised.

"F-Family!?" I nodded at her.

"Yeah, my dream. I want to have a family and _not_ leave them for years at a time, unlike certain people!" Noire stared at me, unsure of what to say. "There's only one problem…"

"Problem?" I turned away, glaring at the wall.

"I'm a loner. I don't talk to people. It's impossible to get a girlfriend more or less a family." I clenched my fist, refusing to turn to look at Noire.

It's the truth.

"What about IF, Blanc or Compa?"

"Oh please. Those three are practically sisters to me. I mean, how would it feel to marry your sister?" Silence. "Yeah, exactly."

I accept my life.

I am a loner.

I always will be.

There's nothing I can do about it.

"Well, if you can't get a girlfriend…" I heard Noire walk up to me, wrapping around her arms around me.

What is she doing?

"I can fill the part, I mean… It's not like I have to or anything." What? There's no way this possibly be happening.

"No. That was a lie. I don't have to. _I want to!_ " She tightened her hug around me, pressing her face against the back of my neck.

"Wh-Where's this coming from?" Noire shook her head.

"I don't know. When we first met, I didn't think I would ever like you, with the shower accident and all that, but somehow… over the short time we spent together… I just… can't help but fear that someone might take you away…" I could feel my neck get wet from her tears as she sniffled behind me.

This…

"When I kept my distance, I had already known that you were the choreographer and I didn't like the fact that you hid like a coward. But now I know... and I'm sorry."

That's not a problem anymore, but this…

This isn't a dream is it?

I reached to my cheek and pin-

OW! Not a dream. Not a dream. Definitely not a dream.

So that means…

"Noire… do you really mean it?"

"YES!" Uh… No way...

I…

I…

I don't…

My brain can't even process what happening right now…

Someone likes me?

"So… you... like me?" I turned to look at Noire, she had stopped moving after I had spoken.

"No, you idiot." What…

"But you said-"

"I didn't mean 'like'." What? Then what does she mea- "I meant more than 'like'." Oh.

 _Oh._

 _OH._

"That means…"

"Are you listening?' Noire began to giggle nervously. "I… love you."

So… that's it then. I'm loved. I'm... loved...

That's... unreal...

"Wha-?" Am I crying? I put a finger up my ch- Yep, definitely crying. Wait, I'm not sad. Why would I cry if I'm so hap- Hold on. I heard that some people actually cry when they're happy. So, this is happening to me?

I guess there's nothing else to say… but this.

"Noire?" I gently held Noire's hands and released her grip. Turning around while holding her hands in mine, I looked the girl before me in the eyes. "Will you be my girlfriend?"

Noire's eyes were still teary, and she let go before one of my hands to wipe away her tears. Although it didn't do too much since they were still spilling from her eyes, but that's beside the point.

All I needed to see was her smile and the joyful gleam in her eyes. Those, beautiful red eyes.

I guess it wasn't just Noire who happened to fall in love over a short time.

"Yeah, I'd love to."

A smile crept on my face.

"Let's take good care of each other."

I don't know when…

But…

I fell in love with Noire too.

And I don't I'll ever regret it, but there's one thing I do know.

I _will_ get used to this. _**Trust me.**_


	12. Suddenly

***Nep* *Nep* *Nep***

Ugh… morning already?

I don't wanna go to school today...

 ***Nep* *Nep* *Nep***

I rolled around in my bed, attempting to fall back to sleep.

...It's not working.

 ***Nep* *Nep* *Nep***

Argh! Why won't that damn alarm clock tur- Oh right.

 ***Nep* *Ne-***

Ah…

That's better.

I threw my blanket over my head, ready to get back to the greatest activity in the world: sleeping.

* * *

"N...ne…"

Nghh…

I wanna sleep!

"Nep...ne…"

Wait… that's…

"Neptu...ne…"

Her voice.

"Neptune!"

Noooo! My blanket!

"Wake up already! Geez…"

"Ngh…. no." I curled myself into a ball sorta like cats or dogs when they take naps. I could hear her giggle… Aw, her giggle's adorable.

I felt a pressure on the side of my bed and her finger brush against my- OW OW OW!

"Aowgh!" She's pulling on my cheek!

"It's time for breakfast!" Ow! Okay, okay, okay!

"I'm getting up! I'm up!" I sat up, rubbing my sore cheek. Yeesh. Woman, that hurt! "Geez, Noire. I understand that's Monday, but come on, lemme sleep a little longer!" Noire put her hands on her hips and… is she wearing an apron? I thought it was Uni's turn to cook. "Wait… is today your turn?" Noire looked away for a second and shook her head.

"N-No! ...I just asked if we could switch places for the week." Oh, okay then.

After Mina left, we decided to have a schedule on who would cook. Uni would cook on Mondays and Tuesdays. Nep Jr. would take Wednesdays and Thursdays. Noire would take Fridays and Saturdays while I helped her on Saturdays and took Sunday for myself.

Noire puffed her cheek out and shifted her leg.

"Well?"

"Huh?" Noire had a bashful look on her face.

"Are you gonna eat?" Food? Made by my now-girlfriend?

"HELL YEAH!" Noire smiled and walked over to the door.

"Well then get ready for school, I'll have a place ready for you when you get down."

"Sure!" Alright, time to get ready! BREAKFAST IS WAITING!

* * *

Man, I can't wait! Noire made breakfast!

I entered the dining room to see Nepgear and Uni already sitting next to each other at the table. They weren't eating. Strange, they're usually eating by now. Meh. As I walked closer to them, I could see that Nepgear had this grin on her face while Uni seemed to calming herself down.

"Morning you two! You seem to be in a good mood!" They greeted me as I sat down across from them. Uni looked outright nervous now. "...I take that back. Uni, you need to use the bathroom or something?" The girl shook her head, her hair swinging from side to side as Nepgear patted her in the back.

"No, I'm fine!" Alrighty…

"They wanted to tell us something before we eat." Noire placed a bowl of rice and some other breakfast goodies in front of me.

Alright! Meat! Protein! And… That's pretty much it. Eggs, bacon, you know the rest.

"Noire, I ain't in a sport. I don't need this much protein." Noire rolled her eyes.

"We don't have a lot of ingredients today, so we'll need to restock later." Oh, right. I think I slept a little longer than I thought. Anyways, we can deal with that later.

"So, Nep Jr., what did you want to talk about?" I picked up food and started eating as the two of them began to whisper to each other, Uni's whispering being more hesitant and worried while Nepgear's was more encouraging and positive.

Uni took a deep breath, her face turning- Wow. That's a deep red!

"Big sis…" Uni began to shake while Nep Jr. cheered her on quietly. "M-M-M-Mr. Ne-Ne-Neptune…" Huh? What's with the politeness all of a sudden?

I looked towards Noire, who had a confused look on her face. Yeah, I have no idea what's going on either.

"I… I…"

Oooh, a glass of milk! Don't mind if I do~.

"With… Nepgear…"

Mmm~! Milk, it's always a drink that'd I go to. Not as great as pudding, although I heard that some stores serve pudding likes drinks. That is awesome! Well, milk's fine too. With the sweet creaminess and-

"I'm going out with Nepgear!"

WHATohmygodI'mdoingaspittake! Aghhhhhhh!

"Goodness!" ACK!

"Ewwww!" GACK!

"Neptune, are you okay!?" Argh, it's in the windpipe!

* * *

After that fiasco, breakfast ended smoothly… except that Uni and Nepgear had to change. I had clean the table with Noire and… I had to change. With the damage done, Noire and I began our investigation via asking a lot of questions.

Apparently, the two of them had been secretly dating for a long time. When asked when, I found out it was years before they came here. Well, I never knew that. Nor did I know that Nep Jr. was able to keep this a secret from both me and our parents… I'm impressed, although a bit upset she never told me.

Maybe there some signs that could have told me they were dating? Hmm… Anything… at all…

Anything…

…

…

NOPE! Can't think of anything.

Noire was just as confused as I was, but she was really happy for Uni. The same went for me to Nepgear.

I do hope they have a long lasting relationship… Wait…

"Hey, did you happen to tell any of our parents?" The two of them looked straight at me. What is with those looks in their eyes?

"That's where you come in!" ...What. Uni looked at me, as shy as her sister was this morning.

"Um… could uh… tell my mother for me?" Oh sure, I mean she works at my school an-

"Wait, what am I thinking? No! You tell her!" I then turned to Nepgear. "You too, Nep Jr.! I may have responsibility over you warefare, but not your relationships!" Plus, I'm too scared of Mom throttling while Mother goes into shock.

"But-!"

"No buts!" I don't that kind of fetish, anyways!

"Aw…"

"Darn it…" I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. Taking it out, the collar ID revealed that it was Iffy.

"Yo, Iffy. Wassup?"

"Nep! Hurry on out! We're waiting for you!" As she spoke, I could also hear her outside. What time is i- Oh, yeah. It's around the time they'd be here.

"Whoops."

"Don't 'Whoops' me, just get out here!" Yeesh, someone's not in a good mood.

"Alright, I'll be there in a couple minutes."

"Hurry!" Yep, bad mood.

"Who was that?" I turned to my baby sister, who apparently had a girlfriend for as long as her idoling career.

"Oh, just your neighborly leveled headed friend." I stood and headed towards my room, grabbed my bag and headed back downstairs. "Well, I gotta go." I waved to the three of them and outside to see IF and Blanc… without Compa.

"Where's the jolly one?" IF rolled her eyes and walked on while Blanc shrugged her shoulders.

"Compa has duty today." Oh. I turned to IF, who was walking at a fast pace.

"So, what's with her?" Blanc shook her head.

"No idea." Huh?

"I'm gonna check on her." Blanc nodded and opened a book she held in her hand, using the other hand to grab onto my bag. "What are you doing?"

"I want to read but not get lost." Whatever.

"You better keep up then."

"Sure."

I fast walked to IF with Blac behind me. Iffy was glaring ahead, not even… SHE'S NOT LOOKING AT HER PHONE!

What is this!?

"Iffy, is something wrong?" IF turned her eyes towards me, narrowing them.

"Nothing." She huffed and moved faster. Welp, she doesn't want to talk… alright then.

"Uh… Blanc?"

"..." She's immersed in her book. Ugh, no one to talk to… better get my headph-

"Neptune!" Huh? That sounds like…

"Noire?" The three of us turned around to see my girlfriend running up to us, a package in her hand. "What's up?" Noire stopped in front of us, panting hard.

"You… forgot… your… lunch." She held out the package in her hand, it was a bento box wrapped in a blue handkerchief. Wait, did I forget my lunch?

I opened my ba- Oh, I did forget it.

"Thanks, Noire." I took my lunch from her, our hands brushing against each other. Aw man, I could feel my face heating up _and_ my mouth making a stupid grin.

"Morning Noire."

"Morning." Noire nodded to the other two. However, she seemed to noticed that we were one jolly girl short.

"Where's Compa?" Upon hearing her name, IF crossed her arms and turned away. Noire looked at her confused, then turned to me.

I cupped a hand over my mouth.

" _I'll tell you later."_ Noire nodded.

" _Okay."_ Noire smiled and looked at me in the eyes, fidgeting. " _Um…"_

"Hmm?" Noire turned a bright red and waved a hand in front of her.

"N-Nothing! It's just…" Noire's eyes looked towards the ground. "I wanted to give you a goodbye hug…" This girl…

I pulled away from Blanc and immediately wrapped my arms around my girl, surprising her and everyone else.

"Eep!" She was stiff at first, but eventually melted into the hug, nuzzling her head into my neck. "Neptune…"

"Uh…" Our attention was turned behind us, Blanc had dropped her book while IF's mouth hung open. Oh yeah, I forgot to tell them.

"Hey guys!" I let go of Noire in order to wrap my arm around her shoulders, pulling her close to me. "Guess what?"

* * *

"I cannot believe you!" IF had apparently let go of her stubbornness and was now caught up with my relationship to Noire.

"Heh heh…" I scratched the back of my head, somewhat embarrassed. Blanc had returned to holding onto my bag.

We walked up the stairs and the rest of us separated to our classrooms. Ms. Jinguuji was already in the classroom, talking to some of the students.

"Morning, Ms. Jinguuji!" My teacher looked up to see us and waved. Blanc and I sat down at our seats, with me relaxing into my chair. Blanc reached over and placed her book on my head, using it as a bookstand.

"So, you and Noire huh?" Although I couldn't see her, I could tell that Blanc was curious. I mean, she didn't flip her page yet. She would have gone through at least five or so pages by the time she placed the book on my head and asked me a question.

"Yeh." I could feel another grin creeping up on my face.

"Oh, is that so?"

"Yeah, I'm going out with her now." Heh heh, my life is so great now.

"Really?"

"Yes, Blanc."

"Neptune."

"Yeah, Blanc?"

"I'm not talking." Huh?

"Then…"

"Over here." I shifted my head to see…

"AH!" I sat up quickly, flinging Blanc's book somewhere. Although I could hear Blanc's sad surprise, I can't really apologize right now. Ms. Jinguuji was staring straight at me, her eyebrow raised and a hand on her hip.

"Planeptune, I need to see you for a second." ...Oh crapbaskets. I think I might die today. I turned to Blanc, who was picking up her book from the floor, apparently the book had landed near her feet.

"Blanc, I might not make it to lunch…" Ms. Jinguuji grabbed me by the shoulder.

"Nonsense, you'll be fine." Eep…

* * *

"So you're going out with my daughter?" Currently, I was bowing deeply and staring straight at the ground.

"YES!" Luckily, no one was in the teacher's lounge. So, that means I could plead for my life as loudly as I wanted. "Please! Don't hurt me! I'm sorry!"

"Pardon?"

"You trusted me, and now I'm having a relationship with your daughter! I'm deeply sorry!" Oh god, I'm shaking! I'm so scared right now!

"Planeptune…" Oh god, please! I just want to be with my girl!

"Planeptune…" Please!

"Neptune!" Wha-? I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Look up." I followed her directions and looked up to see not an angry woman, but the smile of a loving mother.

"I'm not mad." Huh?

"Y-Y-You're not?" She shook her head.

"Don't you remember?" What? Remember what?

"Geez," She shook her head. "Noire's going to have a tough time with you." She pulled me to a standing position. "I said that I trust you."

"Trust…" Ms. Jinguuji nodded her head.

"Yes, you've already shown that you love Noire before you even liked her." She now put her hands on both of my shoulders… Wow, she's shorter than I thought. "I don't have to worry about Noire if you're with her."

"You mean…" She nodded and a bright smile dawned upon Ms. Jinguuji's face.

"Yes. I give you permission to date my daughter." …

…

…

…

…

"THANK YOU!" I grabbed my surprised teacher's hands and brought them close to me. "I'll take good care of her! Believe me! I'll make her the happiest woman alive!" Ms. Jinguuji laughed at my joy.

"It's nothing." She walked to the door and opened it, leaving it open. "Shall we get to class?"

My life… it's…

IT'S COMPLETE!

I began to dance around, even copying some of my sister's moves. Although, I did sorta make them hers to begin with.

Speaking of Nep Jr…

" _I'm going out with Nepgear!"_

"Uh… Ms. Jinguuji?" She turned to me, a smile on her face.

"I've got something to tell you…"

Well, if she took that well. She'll take this well.

...Right?

* * *

The bell rang for lunch and Compa and IF walked into our classroom. Iffy was looking better now, energetic even. While Compa and I set up the tables for us to eat, IF and Blanc went to the school store to buy some bread, apparently they were selling some popular manju that were strangely named after Blanc. Creepy, but since one of her moms is in a popular business. I wouldn't be surprised if that was the reason those treats existed.

"Nep-Nep." Once we finished setting up the tables, Compa looked at me curiously.

"Yes~?" Compa gave one of her signature smiles. Oh god, the light! It's so bright!

"You've changed." Huh?

"That's usually a bad thing. Is it a bad thing?" Compa shook her head.

"No, silly billy! It's a good thing!" She reached over and patted me on the head.

"What do you mean?"

"Well…" Compa put a finger to her chin. "First, you've been speaking a lot lately." Huh?

"Don't I do that all the time?"

"I mean, you speak more often. Some days, you were as quiet as Blanc. But now, you're as talkative as me~!" Heh, I guess. Wait…

"Is that all?"

"Hey, let me finish, Nep-Nep. So mean!" Compa made a pouty face. Pfft. It doesn't work.

"Sorry, Compa. Continue." She smiled.

"Okey dokey! Second, and most importantly, you've become happier." Happy.

I closed my eyes, thinking back to what's happened…

At first, it was just me…

Then suddenly, a whole bunch of people started living in my house.

Giving me a family.

Now…

I have a girlfriend and I'm getting ready for college and my future career.

Yeah…

"Yeah, I see what you mean." Compa nodded her head.

"In fact, I like it better that way."

"Yeah… I do too."

"Sorry to keep you waiting, guys!" IF and Blanc walked in with armfuls of manju.

"Wow, you two got a huge haul!" Blanc nodded and sat down next to me.

"Yeah, we did pretty good." IF sat next to Compa, who then leaned onto IF. IF blushed a- Wow, she could compete with Uni. Hold on a sec.

"Iffy, Compa, I know you two are close but…" Compa gave a cheerful smile.

"Iffy and I are dating!" Whoa…

"When did this happen?" Blanc bit into a manju.

"Beginning of the year." What, Blanc?

"Why didn't any of you tell me?" Iffy sighed.

"Nep, we told you." Wait what?

"You did?"

"Yeah!" Hm…

* * *

" _Nep!" Huh? What's that sound? I can't hear anything because of my headph- Oh it's Iffy and Compa._

" _Yo."_

" _Guess what, Nep-Nep?"_

" _What?"_

" _We're-" OW! MY PHONE'S VOLUME SKYROCKETED! OW OW OW OW! Ah… that's better._

" _Nep?"_

" _I've got a headache, just tell me what you want later."_

" _Okay then."_

" _Kay~!"_

* * *

Oh yeah. They did…

"Well, this is late but congrats." Compa hugged Iffy tightly.

"Thanks, Nep-Nep!"

Finally, school was over and IF and Compa chose to go to the mall for a date. Blanc and I walked home, with Blanc holding onto my bag again.

"Man, today was great day!"

"Really?"

"Yeah! I have a girlfriend! I got some good food, made by my girl no less! Got her mother's permission to date her! And now I get to go home to her!" Blanc tapped in the back of the head with her book

"Buddy." I turned to see a smile on Blanc's face. "I'm happy for you." I returned her smile with the widest grin I could muster.

"Yeah!"

When we got home, my parent's car was in front of my doorstep. Oh, this day is getting better and better!

"I'll see ya later Blanc!"

"Later." Oh man, I can't to see what my parents are here for!

I hopped into my house to see my mother and mom standing in the living room. The girls were sitting in the room as well, but…

"What's wrong everyone? Why are you so sad?" Everyone turned to me, my parents looking at each other before looking at me. Mother beckoned Mom and she stepped forward.

"Neptune…"

"Yeah?"

"Don't get mad or anything, okay?" Huh?

"O...kay, why?" Mom scratched her neck and pulled at her collar.

"Well, it's that the girls are going on tour…"

…

…

…

…

"What?"

"For at least two years, since we're going around the world and staying in multiple countries for months at a time."

…

…

…

…

…

…

"No…"

No…

I dropped everything I was holding and sat down on the floor.

Why…

Why is this happening now?


	13. Goodbye

Neptune collapsed on the floor, his eyes wavering. His parents looked at each other then to him once more.

"Neptune?" He stood up, shaking his head.

"Damn it…" He slowly shifted his head, making eye contact with me. Neptune clenched his fist and closed his eyes. Upon opening his eyes, Neptune turned away and headed towards the stairs.

"Neptune, what about dinner?"

"...Not hungry."

"But we made your favorites!" Neptune didn't respond and continued walking upstairs. Histoire and Arfoire looked at each other, upset. Histoire lowered her head.

"We did it again…" Arfoire shook her head and hugged her wife.

"Yeah, but I didn't expect Neptune to react like this." Arfoire sighed and turned to the rest of us. "Girls, sorry to say this but this tour is an important one." Nepgear walked up to her mother.

"How important?"

"Well, let's just say that if this tour is successful. We can retire early, pay for your college tuition AND still have left over for our grandchildren's college fund." Wow, that's a lot of money.

"Wow! That's a lot!" Uni widened her eyes in surprise. Arfoire grinned.

"Well, what do you think what will happen if we have two popular idol groups collaborating together?" She then looked up the ceiling, where Neptune's room was. "If only Neptune would be able to accept this."

Neptune… I got it!

"Don't worry, I'll cheer him up!" His parents turned toward me. Ugh, now I feel pressure.

"Are you sure, Noire?" I nodded my head.

"Leave it to your future daughter-in-law!"

"Oh oka- Wait, daughter!? Noire!" I immediately put on my shoes and ran out the house, heading towards the closest convenience store. I have to hurry!

* * *

Alright, I got everything I need now. I just need to pay for the snacks and-

"Hey!" Huh? I turned around to see a man walk up close to me. "It's Noire!" Oh no! I forgot to put on a disguise! If I get found out here then- Huh?

The man walked past me towards the magazine section. He picked a magazine that had me on the cover page.

"Nice! I wanted this issue so bad!" Phew, he didn't notice me… Alright time to buy these snacks and hurry over to Neptune!

* * *

By the time I got home, most of the houses had their lights on, which wasn't long since I left the house fairly late.

I entered the house to see Nepgear sitting at the sofa, cuddling with Uni.

"Noire you're back!" I nodded and- Wait a second.

"How are you expressing affection so openly now?" Uni lifted up her head and looked at me.

"After you left, you confused Neptune and Nepgear's parents with the 'daughter-in-law' bit and we were left to explain." Oops.

"So how does that explain you two?" Now Nepgear turned to me.

"Well, while we explained you and Neptune, we let slip that we were dating." Oh. I guess that they took it well. Oh, yeah.

"Where's Neptune?" The two of them looked up.

"Still upstairs." Alright, let's do this.

"I'm going to check on him." A collective 'Okay' came from the two of them and I turned to go upstairs.

"Noire." I turned around to see Histoire at the stairs, she was still holding her thick book. I wonder what's inside that book. I'm curious, but I can't think about that right now.

"Yes?"

"I heard about your relationship with Neptune." She stared at me with a hopeful look in her eyes. "And I want to say that I won't intervene in my son's love life. In fact," She turned to the wall. "I encourage it. Although I doubt I can say that." What?

"What do you mean?" Histoire leaned against the wall, closing her eyes.

"Did Neptune tell you? About how he feels about our jobs?"

"Yeah." Histoire now stared at the ground, her eyes beginning to well up with tears.

"We spent years away from him. For far too long, Neptune had to live alone." She clutched her book to her chest. "We wanted to come home and stay with him, but we couldn't due to our jobs." She wiped her eyes and shook her head. "But now we have to leave him constantly, you don't know hard it is to leave your son behind." She then turned to me once more. "Noire, please take care of him when the tour is over."

"Yeah!" I walked upstairs and headed towards Neptune, bag in hand. Histoire stopped as I took one step up the staircase.

"Oh, also you might want to take as much time as possible, we're leaving tomorrow morning." Oh… alright then.

"I will." Histoire let go and shoved me forwards.

"Go get him." Thanks, Histoire!

* * *

I made it to Neptune's room, but the door was closed. Gently, I knocked on the door.

"Neptune?"

"...What?"

"I want to talk." I could hear him sigh and shuffle over to the door. He cracked open the door and peeked out to see me.

"What is it?" I held up the bag of snacks and smiled.

"You hungry?" I heard his stomach growl, causing me to giggle. I could hear him groan in embarrassment. "I got you something to eat, but I also got pudding too."

Immediately, Neptune opened the door and-

"Wah!" He's hugging me! He's really hugging me!"

"I know we just started going out literally yesterday, technically today, but I love you so much right now." Hehe… Stop it. I wrapped my arms around him, completing the hug,

"Come on. let's eat." Neptune nodded and released from the comfortable hug… Aw… and led me inside. Everything that I had left in Neptune's room had been moved back to my room, basically returning his room to how it used to be.

Neptune sat down on his desk, leaning back on his chair. Upon leaning down, he let out a deep sigh. Poor guy… He looks so sad. Good thing I'm here! I mean, I just want to make him happier! That's not wrong, is it?

Suddenly, Neptune sat and looked around, eventually looking back at me and scratching the back of his head.

"Well, I don't think I can sit here if I have a guest, huh?" That's right, Neptune normally sits at the table when he has guests, but since we've lived together for a while, he's gotten used to sitting at the chair without the need to be polite to me.

"It's fine." Aw, he's worried. Neptune immediately stood and was about to sit down at the table until I stopped him. I didn't I would do this, but I've got to try this at least… "Just sit down." Okay, he's sitting. "Now…" I edged my bottom to the chair, gently pushing him aside. Eventually, both of us were sitting on the chair.

"Oh!"

"There, how's that?" I placed the bag of treats on his desk while he moved his computer's keyboard aside. I took out the snacks one by one, placing them on the desk. I had bought, pudding, one for each of us, chips, and various other snacks that I thought Neptune might like.

Neptune clapped his hands together and made a wide grin. I smiled and put my hands together with him.

"Thanks for the food!" With that, the two us opened the snacks and dug in.

* * *

"Aw man! That was unhealthy but it was worth it!" Neptune leaned onto his desk, a smile on his face. Aw… he looks so cute. I've got to…

Poke.

"Nepu…"

…

Poke.

"Nepu…"

…

…

Poke Poke.

"Ne...pu…"

…

…

…

This is addicting.

"Noiiiiirrrrrre." Oh, he's whining.

"Sorry." Neptune sat up and leaned on me.

"Thanks, Noire. I feel a bit better now." Yes! "It's just…" Neptune pressed his cheek against mine. "I wish this could have lasted longer."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean our time together." Neptune wrapped an around me. "We just started dating, and now we have to separate." He now looked at the ceiling. "Not only that, but my family will be gone again…"

"Neptune…"

"Yeah?"

"I'm sad too." How could I not be? I wrapped my arms around his torso. Neptune reached into his pocket and pulled out headphones, the ones he always wore.

"These… these guys were my way with dealing with the loneliness, but now that I've had a taste of happiness. I doubt that I can handle it anymore with just this." Neptune clutched his headphones and tossed them onto the desk, using his now free hand to hug me tightly. "Noire…"

"Yes?"

"...I'm gonna miss you…" I could hear him holding back his tears… and failing as I could feel them falling onto my shoulders.

"Neptune… stop. If you start crying…" No, my eyes are already watering… "You'll set me off too!" I couldn't stop my tears now.

The both of us sat there, holding each other and crying our eyes out. Neptune was even shaking as he held me.

Eventually, he let go of me. He looked at his headphones and suddenly his eyes widened.

"That's it!" He rushed over to his drawer, where there a pile of games still covered in their plastic wrapping. Neptune tossed the games aside and reached further in. As he did so, he turned to me. "Noire, turn on my computer!"

"Huh? Why?" I don't get it wh-

"Just do it!" O-Okay! I turned around and powered up his computer, leading me to the password screen.

"Neptune, what's yo-"

"Pudding!" ...That's actually obvious, alr- Wait, why didn't it work!? "It's case sensitive! Capital P!" Oh okay, got it!

"The computer's set!" I turned to see Neptune pull a bunch of albums from inside and pile them next to him. Once he got all of them, picked them up and placed them on the desk.

"Move." I stood up and Neptune immediately went to work. "Could you please open them up?"

"Uh, sure." I picked up a- Hey, aren't these…?

"Idol albums, yeah."

"But I thought you didn't like idols." Neptune moved his mouse quickly and clicked just as fast.

"Doesn't mean that my parents wouldn't send me them." He then turned to the pile and shifted through them, grabbing one of the _Candidates'_ albums. "Could pick out all of the ones made by everyone?" He took the disc out and placed it into his computer.

"Okay." I turned back to the albums and began sorting them. "Just asking, what are you doing?"

"Copying." What, why? Hey, is he even listening to me. Wait, he's so focused already!?

Anything I could have said was ignored. Well, better get to sorting… I mean, it's not like he's ignoring me on purpose… Right?

"That's the last of them." Neptune placed the last disc into the computer and copied the last playlist. I had replaced all of the other albums.

Neptune took out his phone and plugged it into his computer. He moved his mouse and clicked a few more times and then relaxed into his chair.

"Downloading."

"Neptune?"

"If I can't hear your voices for a couple years, then I'll have to work with what I've got." He looked up to me and smiled. "I'll listen to everyone's music so that I won't feel lonely for a while." He let out a big yawn, which in turned made me yawn. I looked at the clo-Oh no!

"It's late! I've gotta pack up now!" I turned to the door when Neptune hugged me one last time.

"Thank you, Noire." I could feel the gratitude in his hug and his words.

"Good night, Neptune."

"Night." I left the room and he closed the door.

Well, time to start packing.

* * *

"Is everyone ready?" Arfoire, Uni, and Chika loaded the last of our bags into bus. Rom and Ram were holding Mina, crying their eyes out.

"This isn't fair! Why can't Mommy go with us!"

"Not...fair...at all!" Rom buried her face into her mother's shoulder while Mina stroked their heads.

"Don't worry, girls. We won't be apart forever. Just for a time." Meanwhile, Nepgear and Histoire were looking at the house sadly.

"I wish we didn't have to go…" Histoire put a hand over her daughter's shoulder.

"Me too, dear."

"Blanny!" Vert was currently hugging Blanc while the girl just looked at her twin sister. Blanc reached up and patter Vert on the cheek. "I'll miss you!"

"I'll miss you too." This set off Vert's waterworks. Chika and Arfoire had to pull her off of Blanc in order to not get the smaller girl a shower. IF and Compa were there standing by Mina, watching sadly.

"Sis…" Huh? Oh, Uni.

"What's up?" She looked towards the house, specifically a window, Neptune's window.

"Are you sure you don't want to say goodbye?" I shook my head.

"I'm fine." I stared at the house and bowed to it… Thank you for giving me all these wonderful memories… and for someone to go back to…

"Well, I'm not." Huh? I looked up to see Neptune wearing a jacket similar to the dress that Nepgear wore for our practice that one time. Actually, come to think of it… Nepgear did tell me that Histoire designed a jacket for her brother that she based her clothes off of… Don't tell me that's the jacket! It's actually looks prett-

"Mmph!" What… I feel something really soft on my lips. I could hear either gasps of surprise or wolf whistles. When the pressure was gone, I could see Neptune's face blushing a d- Wow, he's really red.

"Can't say good-bye without some intimacy, right?"

"I-Idiot!" I pulled away from Neptune and covered my cheeks. Ah… It's really hot!

"Sorry sorry. I just wanted to see you off…" He reached into his pockets and pulled put something in my hands. "And to give you this." In my hands were his favorite headphones.

"Wait, but this is-" Neptune shook his head.

"It's fine, I need to give you something of mine in order to make this goodbye feel heartfelt, right?" Neptune grinned. Arfoire clapped her son over the back.

"I thought you'd be bawling your eyes out by now." Neptune raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, I already did that as soon as I woke up." Silence. "Why do you think I took so long to get out of the house?" Come to think of it, his eyes are a little red and puffy. He really did cry!

"Neptune." Arfoire handed him a small box. "Here, I know you'll die without headphones. So take these." Neptune's eyes widened at the box. "They're the first one made, so be lucky." He grinned at his mother.

"Thanks, Mom!" Arfoire gave him a thumbs up. Neptune then looked at the rest of the crying people and motioned to them.

"Come on, come on. No need for sad goodbyes!" He then turned to Histoire. "Mother, be sure to send me those dance videos." Wait, is he really?

"Sure, dear."

"Hold on, what dance videos?" Ram looked confused. Neptune smirked and pointed at Rom, and Ram, and Uni, and Nepgear, and Vert, and finally me.

"All of yours." Now everyone was confused.

"What do you mean, Neptune?"

"What I mean, Uni, is that I watch you dance and individualize your moves." All of the idols, minus me, widened their eyes.

" **You're the choreographer!"** Neptune put his hands on his hips, smiling big and wide.

"Correct!" Nepgear was flustered.

"Th-Then why don't you come with us?" He shook his head and held up two fingers.

"Two reasons: First, I have to watch the house, obviously. Two, I do better watching a video rather than the real thing, plus it'd feel weird to have someone staring at each and every one of your movements." After a second, everyone agreed.

Compa and IF stared at Neptune in surprise.

"How come you didn't tell us, Nep!"

"Yeah, that's mean, Nep-Nep!" Neptune stood back, turning to Blanc, who seemed unfazed.

"Not surprised?"

"Not really."

"Why?"

"You forget to lock the door."

"...Oh." Neptune shrugged.

Histoire looked at her watch.

"I'm afraid times up, we must go now." Neptune, Blanc, IF, Compa and Mina stood aside as the bus roared into action. All of them waving goodbye.

* * *

"Goodbye girls!"

"You girls better work hard!"

"Don't get hurt, or else future Nurse Compa will get upset~!"

"Vert, we'll play some games when you get back okay?"

"Noire, I LOVE YOU!"

* * *

"Bye Mommy!"

"I love you Mommy!"

"I LOVE YOU HONEY!"

"Thanks, IF!"

"Got it, Compa!"

"We will, Blanc, I promise!"

"Geez, NEPTUNE!"

* * *

The bus began to move, the four of them, the houses and Neptune… slowly shrinking. I could see Neptune move into the middle of the road, waving as hard as he could. Eventually, the bus turned a corner and they disappeared.

I looked at my hand to see his headphones. I took out my phone and plugged them in. Gently placing the left earbud on, I started a playlist in shuffle mode and leaned into my chair.

Neptune's headphones are surprisingly comfy. However... they aren't as comfy as Neptune himself...

Oh well, they'll have to do.


	14. The After Years

***Ding* *Dong***

"Alright, that's enough for today. You'll have to research the rest of this topic and you'll have to write an essay. This essay will be due in two months." Professor Ganache stacked his papers and the rest of the class got up to leave.

"Finally, class is over!" I collapsed on my desk. After a second of internal complaining, I stood and packed my things. Yes! We get the week off! ...College is more time consuming than I thought.

"Planeptune?" I turned around to see the professor approach me.

"Yes, Professor Ganache?" The man was young for a professor, being one at the age of 25. I mean, he's three years older than me, but that's pretty young!

"I've heard from the grapevine that you're studying to be a teacher." Grapevi- Oh.

"Ms. Jinguuji?" He nodded. Called it.

"I believe that, rather staying in the dorm for the break. I advise you to return home and relax."

"That's a good idea, Professor!" It'll help me relax after all the studying I've done. I headed straight for the door, waving goodbye to him. "See you after you in a week!" I turned a corner and literally jumped down a flight of stairs, scaring Professor Financier, who's one of the newer professors.

"Eeek!" Oof, gonna feel that once the adrenaline runs out.

"Sorry, Professor Financier! I'm in a hurry!" I zipped past Professor Financier and ran down the remaining flight of stairs, nearly tripping at the last flight.

Running out of the building, I started towards my dorm. On the way there, I ran into some of my upperclassmen. Brave, Judge, and Trick.

Brave was the nicest out of the three of them, very chivalrous.

Judge was a pain to deal with, but he was nice… when he's not yelling or looking for a sparring match.

Trick was… well… He likes little kids. Not in the perverted way mind you, he's just really open about it.

The three of them hang out with me when the four of us have down time. They like to hang around my place and talk about random stuff. Since they were in college, they had chosen their future careers.

Brave wanted to be a counselor, apparently he wanted to guide the children down the right path.

Judge wanted to be a P.E. teacher, so we take similar courses.

Trick wanted to be a kindergarten teacher… good luck with that.

Anyways, the three of them were leaving the dorm as I was entering.

"Neptune! Magic just inviited us to a mixer, want to come along?" Brave, who was in the middle of the two, both in body shape and height, asked m- Hold on.

I skidded to a stop. Whoa, whoa _whoa_. Wait.

"Is Trick going?" The chubby guy nodded. No way. I'm not convinced.

"You messing with me." Now Trick looked offended.

"Neptune, you _wound_ me!" Trick flung himself backwards, onto Judge, who immediately punted him off. "I may love children, but _I_ still have the desire for _love!_ " Why is he staring at like he wants ap-Oh yeah… I forgot he was minoring in theater.

I slow clapped for Trick, who promptly bowed over and over until Judge, the bulky giant, stepped in front of the other two.

"ARE YOU GOING OR WHAT!?" Ow… He's louder than usual… which means...

"Judge, let me guess… excited?" He shook his head vigorously.

"NERVOUS!" Wow… New.

"Thought I'd never see the day that Judge was nervous." Scratching my head, I turned back to the door. "Sorry, guys. I ain't going." Brave tilted his head.

"Where are you going?"

"Gonna spend the week back at home." The three of them grinned at me.

"Well, isn't that nice." I nodded and walked towards the door.

"I'll see you guys in a week…" Actually… "Brave?"

"Hmm?"

"Could you guys take the pudding from my fridge and toss them out?" I tossed Brave my extra key. I don't really trust myself to keep only one key on me, so I keep the one that normally use and my spare, just in case or I'm lazy. It's usually the latter. "They'll expire while I'm gone, and I don't want my fridge to have spoiled food that I might eat when I get back." Ugh, I remember the last time that happened. Yuck, it tasted horrible and I had a stomachache. Thank goodness that Judge has stomach medicine. And why did I think it was a good idea to eat three month old pudding?

"Sure." Alright, that's that. I ran to my dorm room and packed the stuff I needed. Clothes, toiletries, the essentials.

Well, that's everything I need. I better call my parents.

I grabbed my phone and dialed my home.

After a couple of rings, the phone picked up.

"Hello?" It was my Mother.

"Hi, Mother." I heard a gasp of surprise.

"Neptune!" I could hear her surprise in her voice.

"I got a week off of college, so I'm coming home for the break."

"That's great! Would you like your mom to pick you up?"

"I'll be fine. I'm going to take the train."

"Oh alright. Well, be safe." Heh, I love my mother.

"Yeah, I'll see you in three hours at least." I heard my mother gasp again.

"You're coming home now!?"

"Yeah." I could hear Mother, putting the phone down harshly, apparently missing the receiver.

"Dear! We've got work to do!" I guess she's talking to mom.

"What!? What's happening?"

"Neptune's coming home!" Now I could hear my mom gasp.

"Now!?"

"Yes!"

"Oh no! Come on Histy, we gotta get ingredients!" Pfft. My parents…

I took a look at my watch, it was five minutes to four. I then used my laptop, which I bought before I left for college, since I didn't want to bring my other computer, to look up when the next train will arrive.

"Four thirty, huh?" The train station's a thirty minute walk from the dorm. I guess I better start walking now.

Wait. I ONLY HAVE THIRTY FIVE MINUTES! Move, move, move!

* * *

I arrived at the terminal with ten minutes to spare. Sadly, I would have gotten here sooner, but this prefecture has too many crossroads! I swear, every five minutes I had to stop and wait for traffic. Ugh, it's annoying.

The only reason, I put up with this is because my college has a great reputation. Students who go to my college, regardless of their origin, ability, or behavior, graduate with skills that would not have been imagined by them the day they enter the campus grounds, as if they were reborn as someone else. It sorta makes sense that the college is called Re;birth University. I don't get why, but I'm not really complaining.

Oh, the train's here. Has it been ten minutes already? I took a peek at my watch just to make sure. Yep, ten minutes. Better get on.

As I got in the train, there was not a lot of people, meaning there was a lot of seats available.

"Sweet, so many seats to choose from!" I walked over to a seat that was next to a window and sat down, pulling out my black limited edition headphones and put them on. Since I gave my favorite headphones to her, Mom gave these ones instead. This one had a chibi version of her on the earbuds- Oh, they're so adorable!

...Well, not as adorable as her, but it'll have to do.

I mean, I've been separated from her for years now.

After the tour, we did reunite… but I'm in college now. So I rarely had time to be with her and eventually, she started college too. Apparently their two year long tour was their last and the two groups disbanded, leaving the world to mourn the loss of their beloved idols.

 ***Sore na noni~ Sore na noni~***

Oh, that's my phone. I made a lot changes to my phone after I downloaded all of those idol songs. I changed a lot of my friends' ringtones. This one is Blanc's.

"Hello?"

"...Hey." Man, Blanc sounds tired.

"Tired?" I heard her grunt.

"Yeah… been writing essays and stories nonstop." When Blanc graduated, she went to Lowee University, where there was a large amount of literate graduates. Apparently, she's trying for writing competitions and slam poetry. Must be exhausting.

"Hang in there."

"Thanks…" I heard her yawn this time, and it was a big one too.

"So why did you call?" If she's tired, Blanc wouldn't have called unless she needed to say something immediately.

"I heard you're going home." Wait…

"How do yo-"

"Mom told me." Wow…

"News travels fast."

"Yup." I scratched the back of my neck and turned to look out the window. Houses and trees and all that jazz were zipping by the window.

"So, what do you need?"

"Could you check that Rom and Ram aren't being spoiled by my parents?" That's right, after the tour, the rest of the Nishizawas went straight back to Mina and Blanc. Chika did everything in her power to love her wife after being gone for so long; because of this, Rom and Ram had to fight for their mother's attention… against their other mother.

Oh man, I remember those days. I'd be trying to sleep in during the weekends I stayed home and then all of a sudden I hear Ram yelling as loud as possible with Chika responding in kind. Woke me a lot ever since then. I feel sorry for Blanc, with three energetic family members, she really didn't get a lot of sleep. It showed when we both had days off from college and stayed home. She was so tired that she slept at my place for a bit.

"Blanc~ Let's play some games." Speaking of energetic people… apparently Vert's one of them. Also, when Blanc graduated, Vert went with her, stating that she wanted to 'fix their sisterly bond', and also because Lowee University has classes in video game programming.

"Shut up Thunder Tits, I'm busy!" And that is Blanc's nickname for Vert when she's irritated, annoyed or angry. I could hear Vert giggle at her 'nickname' and then Blanc grunted immediately after the chuckle. I guess Vert sat on her. "GET OFF ME!" Called it.

"Ha ha ha!" I couldn't help but laugh, this usually happens between Vert and Blanc. They're so close now. You'd think they have been living together for years, rather than… less years. "Alright, I'll check up on the little Nishizawas."

"T-Thanks." It sounds like Blanc's holding back laughter. Oh wait, she's laughing now. Loudly. Guess Vert's tickling her. "St-Stop!" Yep, she's tickling. It's a good thing I have headphones on, or else the people, all ten of them, would hear them.

"Well, I better leave you two sisters alone. I gotta train to sit in." I could hear Blanc trying to break free of her sister.

"N-No, wai-" And end call. Well that ends th-

 ***Sore na noni~ Sore na noni~***

Hmm?

"Hel-"

"H-H-Help me!" Blanc was beginning to have trouble breathing. Yeesh, that doesn't sound good.

"Okay, fine. Put the phone on speaker." Wait a second, just to make sure that Blanc has some time to turn on speaker mode. "Vert?"

"Oh, hello Nep-Nep." That's my nickname from Compa, why is Vert using it? "How are you?" Blanc's still laughing...

"Fine. Could you… I don't know. _Stop tickling Blanc?_ " I heard the blonde chuckle.

"Nep-Nep," It doesn't sound right coming from anyone other than Compa. "I'm just stoking the fires of our sisterly bonds." ...What?

"Sounds like you just want attention." Vert gasped and huffed.

"How rude! I don't have time for your accusations Nep-Nep." Stop it. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a sister to bond with." Uh oh.

"What!? No! Neptune, HE-"

Ah, the phone hung up.

…

…

…

Sorry, Blanc. I tried.

* * *

Man, a three hour train ride is nothing but stiff! Argh, I'm just glad I'm out of there. Stretching my arms and legs, I left the train station and walked home. As I was walking down the familiar streets, I heard a familiar gasp.

"It's Nep-Nep!" Oh, good. The voice actually works thi- Gah! Igottackled!

"Whoa!" I stopped myself from falling over as my bubbly friend stayed on my back. Wait, where's my backpack- Oh, there it is. It's just hanging off my arm. I craned my neck to see my friend, who's as happy as ever. "Hey, Compa."

Compa's bright smile shined in my face, haven't seen that in a long time.

"Hi, Nep-Nep!" The girl hopped off my back and I slung my bag over my back again. She hasn't changed a bit, except for the change in height, age, hair length, bus-I mean feminine charms! Yeah, charms. Yeah…

"So, how are you doing?"

"I'm suuuuuuuper great!" She held her hand and there was a plain silver ring on her finger. Wait… that's a…

"Did… Did Iffy?" Compa's smile got even wider and nodded her head. "That's awesome!" I grabbed Compa by the shoulders and spun her around like a parent would do with their child. The girl giggled until I put her down. Huh… I… didn't even… think I could do that… No wait… I'm tired.

"Nep-Nep?"

"Just… tired." Man, I've been going to the gym often too… Am I slacking, or is did I already peak in strength? No, nevermind. I've just been toning. That's right, I'm not buff. Just average. I took a few deep breaths to let some oxygen back into my system. "So, where are you going, Compa?"

"Oh, I'm just heading home." She held a bag, which I guess held groceries. That's right, Compa's college is nearby. Which means that she didn't have to go far from home. In fact, she's the only one that stayed home. Since I'm three hours away, I have no idea where Lowee University is and IF is training to be a police officer. "What about you, Nep-Nep?"

"Me? I'm just going home since I have the week off."

"That's nice." We could faintly hear the sounds of a phone vibrating. Compa reached into her purse and pulled out her phone. Upon looking at the ID, she made a girly smile and held her finger up to her mouth. "Hi, Iffy~."

Ahhhhh.

I cupped one of my hands over my mouth and leaned over to Compa.

" _I better go."_ Don't wanna third wheel… even though IF isn't here.

"Huh? You're at the train station? Really!?" ...I stand corrected. "Okay, I'm on my way." Compa ended her call and put her phone away, making a cutesy smile. "Sorry, Nep-Nep. I'm gonna go meet Iffy now."

"Sure, go on and have some fun." I grinned as Compa turned around, skipping towards the station. I just hope she doesn't tr- Nevermind. She fell. Oh, she's getting up. Compa shook her head and turned towards me, bumping her head with her fist while sticking out her tongue. She stood up and waved towards me before skipping ahead once again.

Well, better go home.

* * *

As I walked towards my house, I walked past the Nishizawas. Better go fulfill Blanc's request.

I knocked on the door and I could hear Ram and Chika shouting. The door opened to reveal an exhausted Mina.

"Hi, Aunty."

"...Hi, Neptune…" Man, first Blanc and now Mina. I hope this family doesn't go crazy... "How's college?"

"Exhausting. Just like always." Mina chuckled and I could see Chika tumble into view, with Ram piggybacking her and Rom watching from the doorframe. Aren't those two in middle school now? Meh. Family. "Anyways, Blanc wanted me to check on you guys… and I guess that you guys are fine." Mina smiled weakly.

"More or less." Mina scratched the back of her head.

"Alright, I'll let Blanc know." I turned away and headed to my house. "I'll see you later." Mina waved goodbye as Chika and Ram hugged her and pulled her inside.

I walked to the front of my door and I could hear voices. Huh? Oh, Nepgear should be home. I pulled my key and opened up the front door.

"I'm home!" The voices hushed and the house went quiet… Strange. "Mom? Mother? Nep Jr.? I'm back!" I walked towards the dining room, where I believe the voices were. I entered the room to see… Gack!

"Welcome Back, Neptune!" Confetti! My eyes! Once the confetti was gone, I looked to see my family, and the Jinguujis, minus her… A-Anyways, on the dining table were my favorite dishes. And no eggplants, good. Wh-

"Is that _pudding_!" On the table was a giant plate of pudding, at first I thought it was a cake, but after taking a second look… "That _is_ pudding!" Oh my god! This is heaven~! I put my hands on the table to get a closer look. "Wow, this is awesome!" It's a pudding cake!

"Thanks, I made it myself."

Wait, that's… her voice.

"It took some time for me to get it just right." I lifted my head to see… Yes, it was her. She wore jean shorts, a white t-shirt that was partly visible from under her frilly apron. Her hair was tied into twintails and her eyes… they were still the same beautiful red irises that I remember. Wrapped around her neck were headphones that were custom made to have d-pads on them.

"Noire…" My girlfriend stared at me, a smile on her face.

"Welcome home, Neptune." There was only one thing I could do.

"...I'm back." And that was to smile.


	15. A New Family

***Ploot* *Ploot* *Ploot***

An alarm rang in a pink and purple bedroom. In the bed with pink sheets and handmade stuffed dolls surrounding her, a head with a long dark lavender turned around under her blanket.

 ***Ploot* *Ploot* *Plo-***

A hand reached up to the alarm clock and shut it off, sighing lazily back to sleep.

"Plutia? Plutia! It's morning!" The voice groaned and the girl pulled her covers over her head.

After five minutes passed, footsteps headed towards the door. Said footsteps were becoming louder and louder until the door was opened, a woman with red eyes and long black hair that was let down. The mother wore a frilly apron with her hands at her hips. Staring at her daughter's sleeping figure for a little longer, the woman made a small smile.

"Kids…" Her smile was replaced with a frown as she walked over to the bed and she gripped the blanket with both of her hands. "Wake… UP!" The pink blanket flew off of the girls body, causing the girl to frown and curl up into a ball.

"Mommy… five more minutes." The woman shook her head and placed a hand over her daughter's cheek, cupping it and allowing her daughter to nuzzle into the palm. The girl, however, immediately regretted the decision as her mother pinched her cheek and pulled it. "Ooooooooowieeeeee!" The mother watched her daughter fail for a minute before letting her go.

"Well, that woke you up." The girl gripped her cheek, her mouth wavering and her eyes tearing up. Upon opening her eyes, the daughter looking into her mother's. The girl rubbed her magenta eyes and stared up at her mother.

"Mommmmmmmy, that huuuuuuuuurt!" Plutia closed her eyes and threw her hands into the air. Her mother shook her head and with a sigh, she sat down next to her daughter.

"Plutia, you're in highschool now. Please, try to act like one." Plutia tilted her head.

"But, Mommy. I'm _am_ acting like highschooler, sleeping in, being lazy an-"

"Not like that." Plutia's mother patted her daughter in the head, sighing once more. "I guess it's my fault you're so spoiled." She looked at the open door. "Between me and your father, I think that I'm both the strictest and the loosest to you." Plutia placed her head on her mother's shoulder.

"Mommy."

"Hmm?"

"I love you." Plutia's mother smiled and wrapped her hand around her daughter. "I love you, too. Plutia." She stood and walked over to the door. "Come on down, we're going to have breakfast."

"Yay~!" Plutia threw her hands into the air. She opened her drawers and took off her pajamas and sleepy cap, changing into a purple shirt with a chibi smiley face of her mother when she was an idol, and a skirt.

Going downstairs, she ran into the dining room to see her father sitting at the table, a planner beside him and her mother finish setting up the table.

"Morning, Daddy!" Although she somewhat had her mother's eyes, she also somewhat had her father's hair. His being darker than hers.

"Hey, Plutie. How'd you sleep?"

"I slept _great!_ " She sat down and grabbed her fork and knife, beginning to chow down. "Thank you for the food!" She began to scarf down her breakfast, as did her mother, until she noticed that her father hadn't touched his plate yet. "Daddy, why aren't you eating?" Her father looked up, surprised.

"Huh? Oh right." Her father clapped his hands together. "Thank you for the food." With that, he began eating.

An hour later, the doorbell rung. Plutia stood up from her table, her eyes shining.

"That's Marvy!" Her mother turned around to look at her daughter confused.

"Marvy?" Plutia's father leaned against his chair, placing his black headphones on his ears.

"One of her schoolmates and friends."

"Oh."

"I'm heading off!" Plutia ran towards the door, opening it.

"Take care!" Both of her parents called out before the door closed. Plutia's mother shook her head.

"Geez, where did she get her personality from?" Her husband looked up, confused.

"Huh?"

"Plutia." Plutia's father shrugged and picked up his planner.

"I don't know." He closed the planner, dropped it onto the table, and walked over to his wife. "What I do know…" He wrapped his arms around his wife, their hands intertwining and their wedding rings next to each other. "Is that I have a loving family, one that I'll never abandon." Her wife giggled at her husband's happiness, letting him nuzzle into her neck.

"I love you, Neptune."

"I love you too, Noire."

Husband and wife looked at out the window and into the sunny sky. The sky that their beloved daughter was running and having fun under.

"Neptune?"

"Yeah?"

"Can we have another?"

"Another what?"

"...ld?"

"Huh?"

"I... I want another child."

"...Oh..."

And soon, there would be another one to love in this household.

 _A Loner's Idol Family_

 _Fin_

* * *

 **A/N: Finally, I finished! Honestly, did you think I'd end this story with Neptune and Noire separated? Nah, that's not my style. Anyways, thank you to all of you who read this story to the end. This may be the end of _A Loner's Idol Family/An Idol's Loner,_ but I'm still writing another story, _The Quartet_ , which I've been holding back on to keep finish this story. _The Quartet_ won't be updated as often as this story, but I'll keep working on it. Look forward to it!**

 **-Kaiyo No Umi**


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